NEW YORK/NEW DELHI: The Indian government on Wednesday came out in full support of 18-year-old Krittika Biswas, daughter of an Indian diplomat, after she sued the New York City government for $1.5 million for being arrested on false charges, handcuffed and confined with criminals.
Krittika's harrowing experience began after she was accused of sending obscene and threatening anti-semitic emails to teachers of her school in December 2010 — a charge she repeatedly denied. She was arrested on February 8 and kept in jail for 24 hours before the Indian consulate and the embassy in Washington secured her release.
Despite the Queens district attorney dropping charges and expunging her arrest from the record, school officials sent her to a suspension centre. Krittika told Times Now she was treated like a criminal and forced to spend time with '' HIV patients and sex workers''.
TEEN TRAUMA
Krittika, 18, was not allowed to use the bathroom in custody. '' Eventually, I had to go in front of everyone' ' in a toilet inside a cell, says the teen.
Taken away from school in handcuffs so tight that "they were like a torture device". "They based it (the arrest) on basically nothing. I don't know why he (the actual culprit) wasn't arrested... the principal pushed for my arrest"
Krittika case won't affect ties with US: Envoy
New Delhi on Wednesday backed the decision of Krittika Biswas, an Indian diplomat's daughter, to sue New York City for being arrested on Feburary 8 and subjected to mental torture on false charges of sending anti-Semitic emails to her school teachers in December last year.
On Wednesday, lawyer Ravi Batra said Krittika, whose father Debashish Biswas is vice counsel at the Indian consulate in New York, has sued the New York City government claiming $1.5 million in damages. Indian consulate general Prabhu Dayal said Krittika deserved the compensation from the US government as "she has undergone mental and physical torture. This has scarred her mind for the rest of her life."
Official sources in the ministry of external affairs told TOI, " We have taken this issue up with the US government.
We have conveyed our anguish at the incident." They even said that the school's decision to not charge the real culprit, an "Asian" boy, spoke volumes of their "double standards".
She alleged that she was not allowed to use the bathroom when she was in custody at the 107th precinct. "Eventually, I had to go in front of everyone," she said, referring to a small toilet in the cell occupied by other people.
Batra said that her morethan-24-hour arrest violated international, federal, state and city laws. Batra said neither Krittika's father nor the consulate general were informed of her arrest on February 8. "They (the school) based my arrest on basically nothing," Krittika said, adding that the school did not suspend the Chinese student who sent the emails. "I don't know why he wasn't arrested ... the principal pushed for my arrest."
She said a cop told her that if she didn't confess, she would have to spend time in prison with prostitutes and people with HIV. She couldn't drink water from a water fountain because it had another person's vomit, and although it was really cold, she could not use the blanket because it stank.
The NY Police Department is not responding to calls and an email seeking a response.
Dayal later said that the incident would have no bearing on Indo-US relations. "This is an aberration... a wrongful act of local officials," he said. In addition to compensatory and punitive damages, Batra suggested that Mayor Bloomberg could perhaps give "a key to the City to Krittika as a token of heartfelt sorrow for the unbecoming pain inflicted upon her."
Krittika's harrowing experience began after she was accused of sending obscene and threatening anti-semitic emails to teachers of her school in December 2010 — a charge she repeatedly denied. She was arrested on February 8 and kept in jail for 24 hours before the Indian consulate and the embassy in Washington secured her release.
Despite the Queens district attorney dropping charges and expunging her arrest from the record, school officials sent her to a suspension centre. Krittika told Times Now she was treated like a criminal and forced to spend time with '' HIV patients and sex workers''.
TEEN TRAUMA
Krittika, 18, was not allowed to use the bathroom in custody. '' Eventually, I had to go in front of everyone' ' in a toilet inside a cell, says the teen.
Taken away from school in handcuffs so tight that "they were like a torture device". "They based it (the arrest) on basically nothing. I don't know why he (the actual culprit) wasn't arrested... the principal pushed for my arrest"
Krittika case won't affect ties with US: Envoy
New Delhi on Wednesday backed the decision of Krittika Biswas, an Indian diplomat's daughter, to sue New York City for being arrested on Feburary 8 and subjected to mental torture on false charges of sending anti-Semitic emails to her school teachers in December last year.
On Wednesday, lawyer Ravi Batra said Krittika, whose father Debashish Biswas is vice counsel at the Indian consulate in New York, has sued the New York City government claiming $1.5 million in damages. Indian consulate general Prabhu Dayal said Krittika deserved the compensation from the US government as "she has undergone mental and physical torture. This has scarred her mind for the rest of her life."
Official sources in the ministry of external affairs told TOI, " We have taken this issue up with the US government.
We have conveyed our anguish at the incident." They even said that the school's decision to not charge the real culprit, an "Asian" boy, spoke volumes of their "double standards".
She alleged that she was not allowed to use the bathroom when she was in custody at the 107th precinct. "Eventually, I had to go in front of everyone," she said, referring to a small toilet in the cell occupied by other people.
Batra said that her morethan-24-hour arrest violated international, federal, state and city laws. Batra said neither Krittika's father nor the consulate general were informed of her arrest on February 8. "They (the school) based my arrest on basically nothing," Krittika said, adding that the school did not suspend the Chinese student who sent the emails. "I don't know why he wasn't arrested ... the principal pushed for my arrest."
She said a cop told her that if she didn't confess, she would have to spend time in prison with prostitutes and people with HIV. She couldn't drink water from a water fountain because it had another person's vomit, and although it was really cold, she could not use the blanket because it stank.
The NY Police Department is not responding to calls and an email seeking a response.
Dayal later said that the incident would have no bearing on Indo-US relations. "This is an aberration... a wrongful act of local officials," he said. In addition to compensatory and punitive damages, Batra suggested that Mayor Bloomberg could perhaps give "a key to the City to Krittika as a token of heartfelt sorrow for the unbecoming pain inflicted upon her."
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