French diplomat accused of raping daughter seeks PM's intervention

French consular official Pascal Mazurier, accused of sexually abusing his minor daughter, has approached Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for speedy justice.

In a missive to Modi, the diplomat, who is posted in Consulate General of France in Bangalore but is under suspension, said "he's deprived of speedy justice" even 25 months after his estranged Indian wife made the allegations against him.

"I have not been able to maintain contact with my three innocent children, who loved me so much, and in turn, they are forgetting their national language and culture, their family history," said the letter written to the prime minister two days ago.

Mazurier was arrested June 19, 2012 after police registered a case against him under section 376 of the IPC on a complaint by his wife accusing him of abusing their four-year-old child.

The Karnataka High Court granted him bail in October 2012 while the criminal case is pending in the sessions court for trial.

The attache was charged by a Bangalore sessions court Feb 11 this year under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with the rape of a minor. Mazurier, 40, has applied for a temporary bail relaxation in order to visit his dying grandmother in France for a period of four weeks.

"My wife is hiding the children from the consulate and from my parents. She has disobeyed the orders of the Bangalore family court several times. Even today (Saturday) she was supposed to bring them to the mediation centre of the family court but she has decided to ignore the order," he alleged.

"The statements given by (the employees of the complainant) do not specify that petitioner committed the offence. Medical report does not connect the involvement of the petitioner in the crime, even the DNA report is in favour of the petitioner," said the letter quoting the high court observations.