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NEW DELHI — India’s foreign minister demanded Thursday that the United States drop the case against a diplomat who was arrested and strip-searched in New York City, saying she was the victim of a blackmail attempt by her housekeeper.

The case has sparked a diplomatic furor between the United States and India, which is incensed over what its officials describe as degrading treatment of Devyani Khobragade, India’s deputy consul general in New York.

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The U.S. Marshals Service confirmed it strip-searched Khobragade after her arrest, but denied her claim that she underwent a cavity search.

Khobragade, 39, is accused of submitting false documents to obtain a work visa for her Manhattan housekeeper, an Indian national. According to prosecutors, Khobragade claimed she paid the woman $4,500 a month, but actually paid her around $3 per hour.

The case has sparked widespread outrage in India, where the idea of an educated, middle-class woman facing a strip-search is almost unheard of, except in the most extraordinary crimes. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has expressed regret over the incident, even as the U.S. attorney in New York said she was treated well and questioned why there was more sympathy for the diplomat than the housekeeper.