india

Updated: Aug 12, 2019 00:09 IST

The American woman, who is outraged and angry that a Delhi court has granted bail to the man convicted of sexually assaulting her in 2013, has said that she would have preferred to be remembered for her love of India and her work for “Save the girl child” campaign in that country.

“I (did) not imagine I would become one of my own statistics before leaving India,” she wrote in an exchange of Facebook Messenger texts with HT on Sunday. The case is threatening to become an international embarrassment for India.

The incident dates back to 2013, when a Delhi resident, sexually assaulted the woman who was staying as a tenant in his south Delhi house with her husband. A trial court convicted Panwar in February 2019 and sentenced him to seven years’ in jail. But he moved Delhi high court, which granted him bail on July 5 on a personal bond of Rs 25,000 and ruled that pending review of his appeal, his sentence stood suspended.

The complainant, who had travelled to India to depose in the case, said she felt betrayed. “This man broke into the apartment I was in while I was asleep in my exe’s arms… [that] is how that man found me when he attacked,” she wrote. “No woman is safe, not even asleep in her husband’s arms.”

She is also disappointed at the way she claims the staff at the Indian consulate in San Francisco treated her when she went to notarize a legal document affirming her attorney in India was still representing her. She was apparently asked to get the document notarized elsewhere, with multiple signatures, each costing $15, as per California state laws.

There were other expenses too, apart from her travel to India that she partly funded herself. She flew to San Francisco on the lowest airfares available and stayed at the most reasonably priced hotel near the consulate.

“I opened my bank account and showed her (the consulate officer). I simply did not have any more cash,” she wrote, adding that she has been battling multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease, which has left her with “personal financial restrictions due to an inability to work as much as others”.

The consulate has sought to address issues raised by the woman with a statement as well as a video. According to the statement: “Our deepest sympathies and our support are with you. As you know, all attestations were provided on the same day (Tuesday) after you spoke to the Consulate officials and we waived the requirement of the Hague Convention that requires apostilling of legal documents. We hope that you obtain the justice you seek and deserve at the earliest.”

The consulate has also made a video of female staffers who said the paperwork sought was part of an international protocol and have promised that they will do all they can to help the complainant get justice. However, some of the remarks are combative, and there will likely be pushback.

The woman, who is working on a rebuttal video, said her ultimate target was her assaulter. She said she would not give up because “I believe in India, I believe in the people of India and I believe in the men and women that are standing for equality. Many many years ago, India took my heart, and they’ve had it ever since.”