Indian consul general charged of forced labour, sexual assault
The Indian consul general in New York has been charged with sexual harassment and forced labour by a maid. The maid, who supposedly went with him from India, is no longer working for him after spending a year with him and his family.
THE INDIAN consul general in New York has been accused by a domestic help of slavery and sexual harassment. Prabhu Dayal has rejected the charges as “complete nonsense”. The domestic help Santosh Bhardwaj, in the meantime has filed a case against Prabhu Dayal of forced labour.
According to the maid she was forced to work overtime and for long working hours every day for just USD 300 per month. She also alleged that her passport was confiscated and she was asked to sleep in the storage closet. Apart from treating her like a slave the Indian consul general also reportedly made sexual advancement. She was asked by the master of the house, who has a wife and a daughter, to be given a “massage.”
The maid is being represented by Legal Aid Society. In a statement to them she said that she had filed the complaint because she wanted to be paid for all the labour she provided and for all the injustice she had suffered. The 45-year-old lady, who is also mother of four children, said that the Dayal’s did not treat her well.
Prabhu Dayal, however rubbished each and every charge. His version of the story was quite different from what had been alleged by the maid. According to him, Santosh was given a handsome pay of USD 10 per hour and this was the precise reason why she was attracted to venturing to the United States. As for the massage allegation he denied it point blank retorting that he never asked for a massage and that he did not need it because he was fit.
According to the consul general the maid had a comfortable living quarter on the fifth floor of the consulate building in Manhattan with a television and phone. Prabhu Dayal pointed out that the maid wanted to earn more money but it was not allowed by the Visa law and so they said no. This is what raised the ire of the maid who ran away in January 2010 after working for a year for the Dayal's. The Indian officer also said that an amount of Rs 14,000 was deposited in her bank account in India every month. However, what is like a sore in the eye is the fact that the passport, which he had kept for “Safe keeping”, got cancelled by him after Santosh absconded from Dayal’s place.
When a member of the consulate was asked about the whole situation he said that Santosh looked like a family member and never complained to any of the other consulate members. In what is seemingly a very dubious case the entire Dayal family has been accused by the maid.
Prabhu Dayal, however rubbished each and every charge. His version of the story was quite different from what had been alleged by the maid. According to him, Santosh was given a handsome pay of USD 10 per hour and this was the precise reason why she was attracted to venturing to the United States. As for the massage allegation he denied it point blank retorting that he never asked for a massage and that he did not need it because he was fit.
According to the consul general the maid had a comfortable living quarter on the fifth floor of the consulate building in Manhattan with a television and phone. Prabhu Dayal pointed out that the maid wanted to earn more money but it was not allowed by the Visa law and so they said no. This is what raised the ire of the maid who ran away in January 2010 after working for a year for the Dayal's. The Indian officer also said that an amount of Rs 14,000 was deposited in her bank account in India every month. However, what is like a sore in the eye is the fact that the passport, which he had kept for “Safe keeping”, got cancelled by him after Santosh absconded from Dayal’s place.
When a member of the consulate was asked about the whole situation he said that Santosh looked like a family member and never complained to any of the other consulate members. In what is seemingly a very dubious case the entire Dayal family has been accused by the maid.
 | Previous Post |
Login
 Login through Social ID
|
Not finding what you are looking for? Search here.
