Indian diplomat's daughter sues NYC for 'wrongful' arrest

From Betwa Sharma
New York, May 25 (PTI) An Indian diplomat's daughter
is suing New York City's government for USD 1.5 million for
what she claims was a wrongful arrest on the suspicion of
sending obscene emails to her teacher in Queens' John Browne
High School.
Krittika Biswas, daughter of the vice counsel at
Indian Consulate in Manhattan, Debashish Biswas, also claims
that she was ill-treated in the prison.
Biswas alleged that she was not allowed to use the
bathroom for a long-time when she was in custody at the 107th
precinct. "Eventually, I had to go in front of everyone,"
Biswas told PTI, referring to a small toilet that was in the
cell occupied by other persons.
Her lawyer Rajiv Batra said that her more than 24-hour
arrest on Feb 8 was a violation of international law, federal
law as well as state and city law. Batra said that neither
Debashish Biswas, father of girl, nor the Consulate General of
India, Prabhu Dayal, were informed of the arrest.
Batra also claimed that Biswas, 18, had diplomatic
immunity that prevented her from being arrested. But the
Consulate General said that US authorities informed him that
the immunity did not extend to family members of the diplomat.
"That did not cut any ice," he told PTI.
It soon emerged that Biswas did not send the emails
and the school authorities eventually allowed her back to the
school after the real culprit was found.
"They based it (the arrest) on basically nothing,"
Biswas said, adding that the school did not suspend or arrest
the Chinese student who actually sent the emails. "I don’t
know why he wasn't arrested... the principal pushed for my
arrest."
Biswas said that a cop told her that if she didn't
confess, she would have to spend time in prison with
prostitutes and persons with HIV. "I was sitting there
(school) with handcuffs on," she said.
The handcuffs, Batra added, were so tight that "they
were like a torture device."
The New York Police Department did not respond to
calls and an email seeking a response.
Batra lashed out at Principal Howard Kwait and the
teacher Jamie Kim Ross, who was the recipient of the emails.
"They did not do the due diligence before getting her
arrested," he said. "They were dead wrong."
Biswas said that 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
was really dirty.
Dayal said that Biswas deserved compensation from the
government. "She has undergone mental torture and physical
torture," he said. "This has scarred her mind for the rest of
he life.
Dayal stressed, however, that the incident has no
bearing on Indo-US relations. "This is an aberration... a
wrongful act of local officials," he said.
Batra suggested that Mayor Michael Bloomberg give
Biswas "a key to the city" to "unruffle some of the ruffled
feathers."