Source: The Mail on Sunday (UK). 16 January 2011 Headline: Wife 'beaten' by Indian diplomat immune from prosecution goes into hiding with son over fears for safety. Excerpts:
The wife of a high-ranking Indian diplomat questioned for allegedly beating her at their official London residence says she is living in fear of her life... Paromita Verma has gone into hiding with the couple's five-year-old son and has applied for leave to remain in Britain on humanitarian grounds... Her husband Anil used his diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested ... Indian officials refused to waive Mr Verma's immunity despite Foreign Office requests... Mrs Verma fears she would be forcibly taken back to India... A close family friend said that he would goad her and say, "Call the police as many times as you want. I've got diplomatic immunity." ... Police were called to the family's home in London, on December 11 after neighbours heard Mrs Verma screaming and saw her run out into the street with blood streaming from her nose... The friend said: 'Anil suddenly blew up on the morning of the incident. He was in his pyjamas and suddenly flew into a rage over the fact that there was a Christmas tree in the house that had been given to them from one of Paromita's relatives... Following the incident, the Deputy High Commissioner, Rajesh Prasad, visited the Vermas at their home on two occasions - on December 13 and on January 3. On the second occasion he berated Paromita for letting the incident go beyond the family. He told her, "We have decided you will go to India on forced leave" ... and if she was stubborn then there had been incidents where a car comes and picks up families and simply puts them on a flight against their will... Full text, 1280 words + photos at http://goanvoiceuk.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/the-mail-on-sunday-16-jan-2011-p age25/
