Indian diplomat arrested in NYC

[Blademaster]

Pakistan did not request extradition.

What about Kenya and Russia from the two examples cited above?

[Officer of Engineers]

What about Kenya and Russia from the two examples cited above?

In both cases, I did not find extradition requests.

[Double Edge]

So she didn't pay the housekeeper as much as she claimed she did?

No, she lied on the visa application.

Does that mean the housekeeper is actually telling the truth & this isn't some sort of scam to get a visa?

From what my daily said today, there were two agreements, the official & unofficial. The unofficial stated a salary of Rs.30k(~$500)/month. A kings ransom for a domestic by indian standards. Ok so its the US and not India but I still have no idea why $4.5k/month was quoted on the visa application. That is exorbitant for a domestic even in NYC.

Now, there was an agreement between the two.

Where the scam comes in is the domestic breaches confidence and goes against her employer with the intent to stay on in the US.

domestics are a fickle lot, some times they work other times they don't. it can be a hassle. At some point there must have been an altercation and she decided to take her employer to the cleaners.

[cdude]

This is nothing but a scam by the housekeep to obtain victims of domestic violence visa status as one of the conditionse applies, i.e., domestic abuse and claiming lower wage and deprivation as involuntary servitude would be enough to trigger an automatic arrest and granting of visa status.

Are you blaming the victim here or are you blaming the victim here?

Top Indian diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, arrested in New York after 'paying housekeeper $3.31 an hour' | Mail Online

Seriously, what kind of scumbag would pay a housekeeper 600 bucks a month in NEW YORK. The most expensive city in the US. I wonder why she needed to lie about how much she would pay the housekeeper, probably for an H1B visa for the housekeeper.

And it makes no difference how much the diplomat makes. You don't pay people 600 bucks a month in this neighborhood. If you cannot afford a housekeeper in New York like most of the us here, then live like other decent human beings.

[cdude]

Ok so its the US and not India but I still have no idea why $4.5k/month was quoted on the visa application. That is exorbitant for a domestic even in NYC.

My guess is the diplomat applied for an H1B visa for the housekeeper and there is a minimum salary requirement for such visas. Your second statement shows you have not lived in this part of the country. Top nannies demand 6 figure salaries + benefits. Now those are Brazilians. But 4.5K/month is pretty much the ongoing price for a fulltime housekeeper with no benefit.

Source: I live in New York.

[Double Edge]

But citizens of that country should be brought over to serve as virtual slaves.

She would have to consent. Slaves don't have a choice they are brought over against their will and are not paid.

As opposed to lying to the to trick them in to working full time for free with no way to get justice?

She would be full time is without doubt. Nobody was tricked. This consular worker would have wanted a live in.

Not war zones, just sweat shops...

The alternative is not go to the US and work locally for a lot less or as a construction worker or be unemployed. What she was offered as compensation was quite fair. A live in does not pay rent nor food. They have no expenses, most of the money they make goes back home.

Bear in mind, she was not a local or an illegal but someone that was recruited from India and who agreed to the terms of employment.

As far as anyone can tell she is not a diplomat but a consular official. BIG difference. Consular officials can be prosecuted by host countries for felony convictions. It really looks like she broke the law and engaged in what amounts to human trafficking for personal gain- domestic slavery. If that is what happened I hope they throw the book at her for trying to enslave an immigrant in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty.

How many domestics you know of that make $55k/year

I wonder what caste the servant was from. I bet if she had been a higher caste there would be a lot less blaming the victim going on.

The name suggests she's an Anglo. Her English would have been above average, prolly why she was recruited. She would have had to be able to be comfortable ferrying kids etc.

If she was of a higher caste she would not be working as a domestic to begin with.

[Double Edge]

My guess is the diplomat applied for an H1B visa for the housekeeper and there is a minimum salary requirement for such visas. Your second statement shows you have not lived in this part of the country. Top nannies demand 6 figure salaries + benefits. Now those are Brazilians. But 4.5K/month is pretty much the ongoing price for a fulltime housekeeper with no benefit.

Source: I live in New York.

Well, when i lived there my cousins employed a jamaican, she was an illegal, this is what you usually do and it works fine provided nobody squeals. The norm by the other families in the complex too. She'd have made no more than $20k. Now that was quite a few years back, but prices ain't changed that much.

4.5k is not the going price for a domestic especially a foreign one by a long shot.

[zraver]

She would have to consent. Slaves don't have a choice they are brought over against their will and are not paid.

or tricked into working for slave wages... same result

She would be full time is without doubt. Nobody was tricked. This consular worker would have wanted a live in.

She was promised $4500 and got $500 that is shenanigans.

The alternative is not go to the US and work locally for a lot less or as a construction worker or be unemployed. What she was offered as compensation was quite fair. A live in does not pay rent nor food. They have no expenses, most of the money they make goes back home.

She should have been paid what was promised, that is the alternative.

Bear in mind, she was not a local or an illegal but someone that was recruited from India and who agreed to the terms of employment.

agreed to $4500, not $500

How many domestics you know of that make $55k/year

personally? None, but i live in the south not NYC. Regardless, she was contractually promised $4500 a month.

The name suggests she's an Anglo. Her English would have been above average, prolly why she was recruited. She would have had to be able to be comfortable ferrying kids etc.

If she was of a higher caste she would not be working as a domestic to begin with.

^^ Do you see the problem with that statement?

[Double Edge]

or tricked into working for slave wages... same result

There is no trickery invovled. She was well aware of what she was getting into and most likely jumped at the chance.

She was promised $4500 and got $500 that is shenanigans.

As far as what was decalred to the US visa dept, yes.

She should have been paid what was promised, that is the alternative.

She was never promised that amount. That was what was put on the visa form to get the A-3 visa.

agreed to $4500, not $500

She did not agree to that. Most likely was not even aware of that figure. Somebody did some motivated digging and found it.

personally? None, but i live in the south not NYC. Regardless, she was contractually promised $4500 a month.

You can make that argument. But agreements are what is done between two parties. She was not underpaid what she agreed to.

^^ Do you see the problem with that statement?

no, you look for work, you get paid what the market offers.

If you are educated you look for other options. Being educated isn't a monopoly of just higher castes.

I am saying chances are she was of lower caste.

[Double Edge]

The issue is cultural as a foreign diplomat is considered a guest in another country who should not be humiliated. Handcuffing one(specially, a women) and putting them under police custody is taking it to another level.

If you resist arrest then people will do their job. There are no exceptions.

My guess is she was indignant when confronted over this. Those who came to arrest her had the power to take her into custody as they saw fit. The media here plays up the handcuffing bit and the diplomatic part. Is this a diplomatic incident ? if she isn't a diplomat then it isn't.

She took a risk and got bitten. Her career is shot over what ? a domestic.

I suspect some serious differences arose between employer & employee. The employee got in touch with other people who took it further. The employer did not have sufficient leverage to prevent it.

[Bigfella]

No, she lied on the visa application.

At this stage it certainly sounds like that, which is really what this is all about. The rest is just hot air.

From what my daily said today, there were two agreements, the official & unofficial. The unofficial stated a salary of Rs.30k(~$500)/month. A kings ransom for a domestic by indian standards. Ok so its the US and not India but I still have no idea why $4.5k/month was quoted on the visa application. That is exorbitant for a domestic even in NYC.

Now, there was an agreement between the two.

Where the scam comes in is the domestic breaches confidence and goes against her employer with the intent to stay on in the US.

domestics are a fickle lot, some times they work other times they don't. it can be a hassle. At some point there must have been an altercation and she decided to take her employer to the cleaners.

Given the cost of living in NY the domestic was being underpaid. You can't apply Indian wages to somebody living in the US. You would struggle to live on $500 a month in Melbourne. Given the position of the employer she was stupid to lie to the US authorities & then sign another agreement. If all of this is as reported I'm not feeling much sympathy for the employer. She tried to get by underpaying her staff, lied about it & then got caught. She put herself in a vulnerable position in order to save money. She seems like someone who should be smarter than that, especially while representing her nation overseas.

While you didn't mention it, I'm still waiting for evidence that she qualifies for diplomatic immunity.

[Tronic]

Coming around to it, most upper and middle class people in India grow up with live-in housekeeper/nannies, and I don't think most people there can imagine a life without them.

This diplomat must have felt the same when she brought over the housekeeper to the US. Afterall, she did not immigrate to the US, but was posted there as part of her government job. A "government job" in India is synonymous with getting additional perks, not loosing the ones you already enjoy. She probably didn't think it to be a big deal to try and skirt inconvenient laws to maintain her standard of living.

As for the nanny herself, it is ridiculous to throw around terms like "slave" and "tricked" for her position. She was getting paid almost 10 times the wages she would've gotten paid as a live-in housekeeper in India. The rates for housekeepers in India are around ₹1000/month, about $20/month. I'm sure it's not much higher in the bigger metros; maybe ₹3000-₹4000/month, $60/month, max. So this maid making $500-$600 (₹30,000+) a month, with food and boarding covered, is a bonanza for the maid, not "slavery" or "trickery".

Unless ofcourse the maid is planning on not making her way back to India... :whome:

Just putting things in perspective..

[Officer of Engineers]

While you didn't mention it, I'm still waiting for evidence that she qualifies for diplomatic immunity.

India says yes. The US says no.

India, US fight over Devyani Khobragade's immunity - The Times of India

[Tronic]

Given the cost of living in NY the domestic was being underpaid. You can't apply Indian wages to somebody living in the US. You would struggle to live on $500 a month in Melbourne.

There are folks in the US surviving on maybe double the amount she was being paid but then, also having to pay for food, rent and utilities. I doubt she was paying for any of that, as is the norm with housekeepers in India.

[cdude]

Well, when i lived there my cousins employed a jamaican, she was an illegal, this is what you usually do and it works fine provided nobody squeals. The norm by the other families in the complex too. She'd have made no more than $20k. Now that was quite a few years back, but prices ain't changed that much.

4.5k is not the going price for a domestic especially a foreign one by a long shot.

I have no problem with paying illegals their market price. But this Indian housekeeper was LEGAL here and should not be paid peanuts, especially she should've got whatever promised