An Indian diplomat, known as a crusader for women's rights, was arrested Thursday for allegedly paying her housekeeper little more than three dollars per hour.
According to the New York Daily News, prosecutors say Devyani Khobragade, Deputy Consul General to the U.S., paid her housekeeper $3.31 per hour. Khobragade, who makes over $100,000 a year, is also accused of submitting false information on the housekeeper's a visa application, promising to pay her $9.75 an hour.
"Foreign nationals brought to the United States to serve as domestic workers are entitled to the same protections against exploitation as those afforded to United States citizens," said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, the New York Daily News reported. "The false statements and fraud were designed to circumvent those protections."
Khobragade, who lives in an apartment on Manhattan's East Side and has two daughters, "provided a unique perspective on gender and social equality in India," and "spoke passionately about women's rights" at a speech she made in April, the Daily News reported.
Reports say Khobragade first told the housekeeper she would make close to $10 an hour. But after they came to the U.S., the diplomat allegedly made the housekeeper sign a contract saying she would be paid 30,000 rupees a month, or $3.31 per hour, the Daily Mail reported.
Khobragade, 39, is out on $250,000 bond. She's pleaded not guilty to the charges.
"We do not at this time agree that my client is subject to prosecution," Daniel Arhsack, Khobragade's lawyer, told the Daily News.
Both her lawyer and the Indian embassy are asking the charges against Khobragade be dropped, claiming she has immunity. An Indian court even ordered the housekeeper not to press charges against the diplomat, the Hindustan Times reported.
"The U.S. side have been urged to resolve the matter with due sensitivity, taking into account...the diplomatic status of the officer concerned," said a statement from the Indian embassy, the Daily Mail reported.
Khobragade faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
