India asks Saudi to cooperate over diplomat rape claim

New Delhi

India's government urged Saudi Arabia yesterday to cooperate in a police investigation into allegations one of its diplomats held two Nepalese maids captive at his home and repeatedly raped them.

The women, aged 30 and 50 have registered a complaint with Indian police alleging the Saudi diplomat beat and sexually assaulted them while they were imprisoned in his apartment outside the Indian capital.

They flew back to Nepal yesterday, where they said they had been repeatedly raped by the diplomat and other men in the apartment, where they spent around four months.

"We thought we would die there," said one of the alleged victims. "The apartment was on the 10th and 12th floor, there was no way we could run. We were abused every day."

Yesterday, the foreign ministry called in Ambassador Saud Mohammed Alsati to ask for his embassy's cooperation "in the case of 2 Nepali citizens", spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.

Indian police are investigating the allegations, and have registered a case of "rape, sodomy and illegal confinement" according to a senior officer. The allegations have triggered a diplomatic headache for India ahead of a planned trip to the oil-rich nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Saudi official has diplomatic immunity and his embassy has denied the claims, saying it "strongly stresses that these allegations are false and have not been proven".

The diplomat has moved from the apartment in the upscale satellite city of Gurgaon to the embassy, according to Indian media, while his family has been seen on TV arguing with police in the apartment complex.

Scores of women rights activists protested outside the Saudi embassy in New Delhi demanding police arrest the accused diplomat.