An Indian diplomat's daughter is suing New York City's government for $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 February 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."