Maid in Paris

Between the sensationalised story in the French press and the sanitised version from the Indian Embassy in Paris, it is hard to tell exac...

Between the sensationalised story in the French press and the sanitised version from the Indian Embassy in Paris, it is hard to tell exactly what happened to Lalitha Oraon. No one takes what is printed in the Paris press as gospel truth. What the Indian Embassy says ought to come close to gospel but unfortunately does not.

There are two ways of hiding the truth behind the allegations of slave labour and sexual mutilation. One is to turn the whole thing into a diplomatic row between India and France, argue that the incident should not be allowed to damage relations and then settle it quickly between the Indian Embassy and the French foreign office. The second method is to send Oraon back as quickly as possible to a remote part of Bihar where she will probably suffer in silence and cause no embarrassment to anyone anymore.

Official and off-the-record statements from the Indian Embassy in Paris during the first few days look suspiciously like a two-track cover-up. This is very disturbing. Here is a 19-year-old, not even a year out of India, who speaks no French or English, who was totally dependent until she ran away on her employer, an Indian diplomat. She desperately needs a friend as she is examined and re-examined by medical experts and questioned and cross-questioned by the prosecutors8217; office.

The Indian Embassy has been so outraged by the French media and an anti-slavery group in Paris and so busy denying the allegations against her employer that the vulnerable girl at the centre of the story has been forgotten. Oraon attempted to kill herself. A French medical report says she was recently sexually mutilated. If there have been words of shock and sympathy for Oraon from the Embassy, they have been spoken sotto voce.

In public there have only been sturdy denials of wrong-doing and condemnation of critics. Publicly the Embassy, claiming that the physical injuries occurred when she was in the custody of the French police, has demanded an investigation. There is nothing wrong with all this and it is necessary to demand a proper investigation before accusations are made and the media conducts a public trial. But what about Lalitha Oraon? Where are the supportive words and action for her, an Indian citizen in the worst possible trouble abroad?

On the face of it, since embarrassment looms so large for Indian diplomats in Paris, this is a fit case for the National Women8217;s Commission which should send out a team to get the facts and also advise and comfort Oraon. The 19-year-old may well have a diplomatic passport, the usual arrangement for domestic servants employed by embassy staff, but she hardly seems to be getting the benefit of that elevated status. The real issue here is the harm that has been done to Oraon and bringing the culprit or culprits to book.

The only diplomatic embarrassment there is comes out of the ham-handed manner in which the Indian Embassy has handled the incident so far. There will be worse embarrassment in store for India unless priorities are straightened out. The primary concern should be to see to the well-being of the individual and to see that justice is done. India8217;s image will suffer unless those things are taken care of at once.