DHAKA: An Indian diplomat who was arrested in New York City and accused of paying her housekeeper about $3 an hour had claimed the woman blackmailed her over the summer.

An Indian official said Thursday, reports gulfnews.com.

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

The US Marshals Service confirmed it had strip-searched Khobragade and placed her in a cell with other female defendants last Thursday, saying the measures are ‘standard arrestee intake procedures’.

Khobragade was charged with lying on a visa application, saying she paid the housekeeper, an Indian national, $4,500 a month, but actually paid her far below the minimum wage.

She pleaded not guilty and was released on $250,000 bail.

BDST: 2122 HRS, DEC 19, 2013
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor