Soon after a video purportedly showing raw footage of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade being strip-searched by US Marshals after her arrest on December 12 went viral, the United States dismissed it as an online hoax.
Reacting to the circulation of the short but graphic video on the web, the State Department termed it a “dangerous and provocative fabrication”. It said the “hoax video”, showing a screaming woman, is “absolutely not of Khobragade”. The personnel shown carrying out the search of the struggling woman pinned down to the floor are not US Marshals either, the department asserted. The video surfaced even as Washington and New Delhi failed to make any worthwhile progress on resolving the protracted diplomatic spat.
“This video, which we are aware of, is absolutely not footage of Ms Khobragade….We would call it a dangerous and provocative fabrication,” State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf said. Stating that the hoax video appeared on some news website “without obviously confirming its authenticity”, Harf said: “We find it deeply troubling, irresponsible and reckless — and condemn, again, this dangerous fabrication.
I want to make very clear this is not video of her.” Harf also quoted the US Marshals as saying that the search personnel shown in the video are not its employees. And the search methods depicted in the video “are not US Marshals policy”, she said, adding: “I haven’t watched the video myself, but I want to be very clear in saying this is not how we do things here.”
Asked about the reported postponement of Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal’s India visit, Harf said the senior official looks forward to travelling to India as soon as possible. “It’s my understanding there was nothing locked in stone on the calendar. I know there were some rumours out there. When it works in her schedule, she’s very much looking forward to traveling there to the region and talking to folks on the ground,” said Harf.
Media reports have suggested that Biswal put off what would have been her first visit to India in her new capacity because of the unresolved diplomatic row that had recently resulted in top Indian political leaders and officials refusing to hold meetings with a visiting delegation of American lawmakers.