After dilly dialling for days days of uncertainty, the Bangalore Police finally arrested French consulate official Pascal Mazurier on Tuesday. The Frenchman has been accused by Suja Jones, his Indian wife, of sexually abusing their minor daughter.
The rape charge came to light when the official’s wife, who comes from Kerala, approached Enfold India, a nongovernment organisation ( NGO) in Bangalore, for counselling.
She was traumatised after having watcher her husband abuse their child.
The arrest came after the police were officially informed by the Union home ministry that Mazurier did not enjoy any diplomatic immunity.
The clarification came late on Monday. “ We have taken Mazurier into custody from his residence. We will produce him in court after medical examination for remand,” Bangalore city additional commissioner of police ( law & order) T. Sunil Kumar said.
The stage for the arrest was set on Monday when France refused to interfere in the case, pointing out that the accused does not enjoy diplomatic immunity.
A senior diplomat in the French embassy in New Delhi said Mazurier was a consular agent in the Bangalore consulate and holds an official passport and not a diplomatic one.
“ Indian law will take its course as the accused does not hold a diplomatic passport and enjoys no immunity. The little girl is a French citizen and will get justice according to French law, too,” the diplomat had said.
The ministry of external affairs on Monday also expressed similar sentiments and gave a green signal for Mazurier’s trial in India after deliberating over the matter and all its legal aspects, paving the way for his eventual arrest.