An Indian diplomat accused of mistreating her housekeeper on two counts of visa fraud and making false statements was re-indicted on Friday by a New York grand jury, threatening to reignite a bitter row with New Delhi, Agence France-Presse reported.
The announcement from the Manhattan federal prosecutor came two days after a U.S. judge threw out a previous case on the grounds that the former consular official was granted full diplomatic immunity after her arrest.
According to AFP, the new, 21-page indictment paints a devastating picture of the lengths to which Devyani Khobragade allegedly went to infringe U.S. laws in hiring a nanny-cum-housekeeper when she moved to New York in 2012.
Enraging the Indian government and some of the Indian public, Khobragade was arrested on December 12 outside her children's school and later strip-searched.
The diplomatic row between the two countries, which had embraced each other as strategic partners, strained ties and fanned resentment on both sides.
"U.S. prosecutors, disputing her immunity, accuse Khobragade of forcing her Indian maid to work 100 hours or more a week, even when sick and without a full day off, for $1.42 or less an hour," AFP reported. "The indictment accuses Khobragade of presenting false information to obtain a visa for her housekeeper and coaching her to lie to U.S. Embassy officials."
AFP added, "It said the Indian diplomat drew up a fake contract that conformed to U.S. labor law but made her employee sign another contract the night they boarded a flight to New York in November 2012."
The second contract stipulated a salary of $573 a month or $6,876 a year without overtime and the legal protections she was owed in the United States.
The housekeeper worked from 6:30 am to as late as 9:30 pm or even midnight Monday to Saturday, the indictment said, and four hours on Sunday.
The diplomat is also accused of trying to silence and intimidate the housekeeper, who fled in June 2013 after she protested her conditions.
The diplomat's lawyer Daniel Arshack refused to comment on the re-opening of the case, AFP reported.
"The government of India will respond in due course," he said in a statement to AFP.
