Thaindian News

New Delhi, Dec 3 (IANS) A senior Indian diplomat who was posted in Kenya has been accused of sexual harassment by his maid who worked for him in Nairobi. The external affairs ministry Friday said it will probe these charges.

“The matter has just come to the ministry’s attention through media reports. It will be looked into with all the seriousness that it deserves,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash told reporters here.

“The ministry has always thoroughly investigated every complaint against its officials and taken prompt and suitable action wherever required,” said the spokesperson.

The maid who worked for Ketan Shukla, who was then India’s deputy high commissioner in Kenya, had registered a complaint at Moti Nagar Police Station in New Delhi Thursday night accusing Shukla of sexually harassing her and torturing her for three years.

However, Shukla, who is presently in Ahmedabad on a deputation to the Gujarat government, vehemently denied the charges.

“This is a very shocking news for me and my wife. The girl whom we took to Kenya, she stayed there for three years. We have treated her like our daughter. She was free to meet anyone. We used to take her to various functions. She came back to India with us. All her accounts were settled. At that time she had no complaints. She never complained to any of her relatives,” Shukla told CNN-IBN.

“Even 10 days back she requested my wife for a job. If there was a complaint, she would never have had asked us for a job again. I am very surprised. One friend of mine told me that she made a complaint against me for money in some other police station. Now this complaint has come up. Some NGO has misguided her. This is a very serious harassment. I think the government and the judiciary will look into it. I don’t know the details about this complaint, but I will definitely take legal action, even defamation,” he said.

Shukla returned to India in April this year and the maid too went back to her native place.

According to Miracle Aasra, a non-government organisation which helped the maid file the complaint against Shukla, the maid was afraid of the diplomat and so took a long time to come out in the open.

In a statement, the National Commission for Women has sought an action taken report from the external affairs ministry and Delhi Police on the alleged sexual exploitation/harassmentorturehreat and non-payment of salary to the maid.

Girija Vyas, chairperson, NCW, said it was a very serious matter and based on the ATR, the commission shall initiate further action in accordance with law.