Mazurier writes to PM, Prez

 Pascal Mazurier, the Bangalore-based Frenchman facing trial for allegedly raping his minor daughter from an Indian wife, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee seeking early access to his three children, including the alleged victim.

Mazurier, 39, a now-suspended employee of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said his children’s separation from him was affecting their upbringing and welfare.

Mazurier, who is out of jail on bail granted by the Karnataka High Court, said: “I have faith that I will finally get justice through the Indian courts.”

“I am sincerely facing the trial. My grandmother is on death bed, perhaps waiting for me to come, and I want to be with her before she dies,” Mazurier said, breaking down at a press conference organised here on Thursday by NGO Childrens’ Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP).

Along with the copies of the letters written to Modi and Mukherjee, Mazurier also circulated a note quoting the High Court’s October 12, 2012 observation at the time of granting him bail, that “the medical report does not connect the involvement of the petitioner (Mazurier) in the crime, even the DNA report is in favour of the petitioner”.

Mazurier had gone to Bangalore in 2008 to set up a consulate-general of France. The complaint against him for allegedly raping his own three-year-old daughter was filed by his wife Suja Jones in 2012. He was then arrested and put to trial.

CRISP member Kumar Jahgirdar said that his organisation was offering the Frenchman legal counselling to protect his and his children’s rights.

“Children need the company of both parents for their well-being. Separation from any one of the parent is dangerous and pushes them towards criminal mentality,” he said.