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Indian Consul General Accused of Ill-treating Domestic Help

  •   Tue, Jun 21 2011 12:57:12 PM

Daijiworld Media Network

New York, Jun 21: Indian Consul General Prabhu Dayal has been accused of misbehaving and ill-treating his former domestic help Santhosh Bhardwaj (45).

Bhardwaj has filed a forced labour-suit against Dayal accusing him of making sexual advances towards her and ill-treating her by making her work overtime, sleep in a closet and confiscating her passport. She said that she wanted justice for all that she went through.

A complaint was filed in the US district court for the Southern District of New York against Dayal, his wife and daughter on Monday, June 20.

The Dayals have been charged of luring Bhardwaj from India with fake promises and subjecting her to a year of forced labour.

However, according to Dayal, Bhardwaj had been absconding since January 2010 after she was prevented from working outside the consulate which was against the rules.

"She was in my employment in Delhi for one year, in Morocco for four years and in New York for eleven months," he said.

He denied the charges of putting her up in a closet, saying Bhardwaj had her own room on the fifth floor of the consulate building in Manhattan, which was equipped with a television and a phone. She was paid well for her services and Rs 14,000 was deposited in her bank account in India every month, he added.

Dayal justified himself saying that he kept the passports of all his family members as a safety measure. He also denied making any sexual advances towards her.
  

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Comment on this article

  • Chandrakant Pancholi, New York

    Tue, Jun 21 2011

    Without going into merits, or a lack of them, in the Consul General Prabhu Dayal’s case, let me suggest a solution as these type of cases are proliferating in USA and will roll-into other western contries, too.

    Ministry of External Affairs should not allow its officers—from Ambassadors down to Consuls, etc., to bring maids with them or hire them because they previously worked for them in India or other countries.. This will avoid the “caged bird” situation as these domestic workers rarely go outside their confined quarters unaccompanied, Let all of MEA officers hire all domestic help from the country in which they are stationed, as the domestic help hired knows the language of the country, has relatives or frineds and can choose to live-in or live-out and gets paid in the local currency. This will avoid “holding passport as ransom situation,” too.

    Alternatively, MEA can remain quagmired in this type of situations forever.
    -Chandrakant Pancholi
    http://www.overseasindiaweekly.com

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