'Diplomatic immunity does not apply to family members'

Washington, May 26 (PTI) Diplomatic immunity does not
apply to family members of consular officers, US State
Department has said, a day after the daughter of an Indian
diplomat filed a law suit against New York City alleging that
she was falsely arrested and suspended for sending obscene
emails to teachers at her Queens High School.
"The Vienna Convention on Consular Affairs provides
that consular officers are not liable to arrest or detention
pending trial, except in the case of a felony where a court
warrant is required. But that provision does not apply to
family members," the State Departments spokesman, Mark Toner,
told reporters at his daily news conference here Thursday.
Family members of the diplomats do carry diplomatic
passports, he acknowledged but diplomatic immunity does not
apply to them, he noted.
"This is different for consular officers versus those
in the embassy. There's different categories," Toner said.
At a news conference in New York, Krittika Biswas,
daughter of the vice counsel at the Indian Consulate in
Manhattan, Debashish Biswas, claimed that she was ill-treated
in 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
said, referring to a small toilet that was in the cell
occupied by other persons.