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India calls in Saudi ambassador over rape case; protest held outside Saudi embassy

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Outrage grows as diplomat's rape probe trips on protocol

GURGAON: The two Nepalese women, who were rescued from the Gurgaon flat of a Saudi diplomat , had probably been sexually assaulted by over 20 men over a period of time.The two women had shared with police this shocking detail, but the police were waiting for more confirmation. Medical tests – performed twice – gave a clear indication of the brutality the two had to suffer. The women had even claimed that sometimes seven or eight men would take turns in raping them.And now CCTV footage taken from Caitriona Apartments clearly shows the diplomat, a first secretary at the Saudi embassy, had around 22 regular visitors. All of them came dressed in the traditional Saudi attire, complete with the keffiyeh or headgear. In one such footage, the diplomat is seen welcoming his friends at the entrance of his 6,750-sq feet apartment.The cops in charge of the investigation, after examining the CCTV footage, have handed it over to the DCP (east) office.But they have still not been able to act on the information available as they are waiting for instructions from the ministry of external affairs. The police have also requested MEA for permission to question the diplomat and his wife, who are now staying in the embassy.Rules leave little room to punish diplomatMEA, however, has yet to hear from the Saudi embassy. On Thursday, the MEA chief of protocol called in the Saudi ambassador and conveyed Haryana police’s request for cooperation. But so far there has been no progress, with India and Saudi Arabia struggling to find a way out of this mess that could threaten bilateral relations. On Friday, the MEA and PMO put their heads together, with the matter going all the way up to national security adviser Ajit Doval.If the Saudis send the diplomat home, it would amount to an admission of guilt, and weaken the line they have taken that the first secretary is innocent and is being framed. On its part, India could provide the Saudis a face-saver by expelling the diplomat – as it would allow the Saudis to stick to their line that their man was innocent – but that would open up the possibility of a retaliatory expulsion of an Indian diplomat from Riyadh. And India does not want relations between the two countries to suffer, especially with about three million Indians working there.However, while the matter remained deadlocked here, the probe picked up pace in Nepal. The Central Investigating Bureau (CIB) there picked up Kalpana Tamang from Kathmandu on Saturday. Kalpana is believed to be the Nepali agent who supplied people to Anwar in Delhi, who eventually placed them in different households.“The two women have reached Nepal but have not been able to meet their families as they have been with the CIB to record their statements and for other legal formalities,” Bal Krishna Pandey, the president of an NGO, Maiti-India, told TOI over the phone. The NGO had been responsible for the rescue of the two women from the diplomat’s house.Pandey said the victims are anxious to meet their families. The 30-year-old victim is dying to meet her two children, a four-year-old girl and a two-year-old boy.