My daughter is being made a scapegoat: Devyani's father

Devyani Khobragade was strip searched, confined in a cell with drug addicts for alleged visa fraud

Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade's father said Tuesday that his daughter is being made "a scapegoat" and asked UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to intervene to get his daughter back.

"It is the government who has send my daughter. It is a political issue between these two countries and my daughter is being made a scapegoat," Devyani's father Uttam Khobragade said here.

Devyani Khobragade was strip searched, confined in a cell with drug addicts and also subjected to DNA swabbing.

"Even if she is arrested, she should have been treated with proper dignity. The UPA chairperson should intervene and get my daughter back to the country," added Khobragade.

He said that he is only concerned with the safety and liberty of his daughter and that he will meet External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.

Khobragade, one of India's senior diplomats in New York, was charged last week with visa fraud and making false statements. She was accused by Manhattan's Indian American US Attorney Preet Bharara of visa fraud and exploiting her babysitter and housekeeper.

Earlier Tuesday, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde declined to meet a US Congressional delegation to highlight India's strong disapproval of Devyani's arrest and handcuffing.