As the drama surrounding the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade unfolds, the diplomat's sister claims the housekeeper, said to be misused, was actually treated as one of the family.
Khobragade, 39, is in the U.S. and currently out on bond after being arrested for allegedly paying her housekeeper only $3.31 an hour and lying on her visa application.
Sharmistha, Khobragade's sister, wrote in a Facebook post Thursday the housekeeper was actually never ill-treated, the Hindustan Times reported. According to Sharmistha, the housekeeper had two big, comfortable rooms and had the freedom to do her work however she pleased.
"She was provided a mobile phone, had bought an iPad, which she often used to Facebook, and could communicate with whoever she wished, whenever she wished, in India or New York," Sharmistha wrote, according to the Hindustan Times.
Sharmisthra also revealed that the housekeeper, Sangeeta Richard, had been blackmailing her sister into getting her a green card.
Richard allegedly left Khobragade's employment in June. Afterwards, Richard came back and requested a meeting with Khobragade at an immigration lawyer's office, the Hindustan Times reported.
"She faced Devyani across a negotiating table and made three demands which were to be complied with in return for not bringing a suit on Devyani: $10,000 in cash, a normal Indian passport (she was on a diplomatic passport which was revoked soon after she absconded) and immigration support," Sharmistha wrote, according to the Hindustan Times.
An Indian magistrate issued an arrest warrant for Richard for extortion and blackmail when a third party confirmed what happened.
Indian officials demanded Thursday the charges against Khobragade be dropped, claiming she has diplomatic immunity and that she is the real victim. In an email to her colleagues, Khobragade said she had been subject to humiliation while in custody, including a strip-search and cavity search.
U.S. Marshals confirmed that Kobragade was strip-searched according to protocol, but deny she had a cavity search, the National Post reported.
