India's foreign minister demanded Thursday that the United States drop a case against an Indian diplomat who was arrested and strip-searched after being arrested in New York City for alleged visa fraud. 
 
 Indian policemen detain a left party activist during a protest against the alleged mistreatment of New York based Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, near the U.S Consulate in Hyderabad, India, Thursday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Left Party activists hold placard and shout slogans during a protest against the alleged mistreatment of New York based Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, near the U.S Consulate in Hyderabad, India,... (Associated Press) 
 
 A left party activist holds a placard during a protest against the alleged mistreatment of New York based Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, near the U.S Consulate in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, Dec.... (Associated Press) 
 
 This Dec. 8, 2013 photo shows Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general, during the India Studies Stony Brook University fund raiser event at Long Island, New York. The Indian diplomat said U.S.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Left party activists shout slogans during a protest against the alleged mistreatment of New York based Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, near the U.S Consulate in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, Dec. 19,... (Associated Press) 
 
 This Dec. 8, 2013 photo shows Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general, during the India Studies Stony Brook University fund raiser event at Long Island, New York. The Indian diplomat said U.S.... (Associated Press) 
 
 The case has sparked a diplomatic furor between the United States and India, which is incensed over what its officials describe as degrading treatment of Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York. 
 
 Khobragade was arrested last week and charged with paying her Indian housekeeper far less than she had claimed on a visa application. 
 
 Indian officials said Khobragade had earlier accused the housekeeper of blackmailing her last summer over the salary amount. 
 
 External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid told reporters on Thursday that Khobragade should never have been arrested, and that the housekeeper should have been arrested instead. 
 
 Khurshid told reporters that the housekeeper had offered Khobragade a "settlement," demanding that the diplomat arrange for a new passport, a work visa and a large sum of money for the maid, in exchange for which she would not report the diplomat. 
 
 Khurshid said he would speak to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry later Thursday. 
 
 "This is an extremely distressing and hurtful incident that needs to be addressed," he said. 
 
 The case has sparked outrage across India, where the idea of an educated, middle-class woman facing a strip-search is almost unimaginable, except in the most brutal crimes. 
 
 In an unusual step, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan publicly defended Khobragade's treatment, and questioned why there was more outrage for Khobragade than for the housekeeper. 
 
 Khobragade's case has chilled U.S.-Indian relations, and India has revoked privileges for U.S. diplomats in protest. Kerry earlier called a top Indian official to express his regret over what happened. ||||| Mohammed Jaffer / AP Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general, during a fundraiser on Dec. 8. 
 
 Secretary of State John Kerry called India's national security adviser on Wednesday to express his regret after one of India's top diplomats was arrested on fraud charges and strip-searched in New York City, creating a rift between the two countries. 
 
 Deputy Consul General Devyani Khobragade is accused of submitting false documents to get a work visa for her Manhattan housekeeper, an Indian national she allegedly paid less than $3 per hour. 
 
 In an email to Indian newspapers published on Wednesday, Khobragade said American police did cavity searches on her after she was arrested and imprisoned on Dec. 12. 
 
 Lawmakers in New Delhi called her alleged treatment "despicable" and "barbaric," and responded by taking amenities away from the U.S. Embassy there. 
 
 On Wednesday afternoon, State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement that Kerry had called Indian National Security Adviser Shivshanker Menon to "express his regret, as well as his concern that we not allow this unfortunate public issue to hurt our close and vital relationship with India." 
 
 "The secretary understands very deeply the importance of enforcing our laws and protecting victims, and, like all officials in positions of responsibility inside the U.S. government, expects that laws will be followed by everyone here in our country," the statement said. 
 
 "It is also particularly important to Secretary Kerry that foreign diplomats serving in the United States are accorded respect and dignity just as we expect our own diplomats should receive overseas." 
 
 Khobragade, 39, was arrested and handcuffed while dropping her daughter off at school, then held in a cell with drug addicts until she posted $250,000 bail, according to Indian officials. 
 
 She wrote of her arrest, "I broke down many times as the indignities of repeated handcuffing, stripping and cavity searches, swabbing, in a holdup with common criminals and drug addicts, were all being imposed upon me, despite my incessant assertions of immunity." 
 
 U.S. Marshals confirmed in a statement that she was strip-searched following "standard arrestee intake procedures." 
 
 Khobragade is accused of visa fraud — lying to the State Department about the terms under which she sponsored a visa for a woman from India to come to the U.S. and work for her as a babysitter and housekeeper. Foreign diplomats and dconsular officials are allowed to get visas for people from their home countries to work for them in the U.S., but the employees must be paid the U.S. minimum age and can't be forced to work excessively. 
 
 According to the criminal complaint filed against her, Khobragade told the U.S. Embassy in India that her housekeeper would receive $4,500 a month and would work normal hours, at a rate of $9.75 an hour (which does not add up). 
 
 But, after the woman was given a visa to come to the U.S., prosecutors say Khobragade told the woman to sign a second contract — which the U.S. was not told about — paying her $3.31 an hour. 
 
 The housekeeper told U.S. authorities Khobragade subjected her to verbal abuse, paid her less than $3.31 an hour, took her passport away, and told her she had no choice but to continue working under those conditions, prosecutors say. 
 
 Khobragade was arrested by U.S. State Department diplomatic security personnel. As a consular employee, she has no immunity from prosecution for ordinary crimes. 
 
 Manhattan federal prosecutor Preet Bharara issued a lengthy statement Wednesday to “correct inaccuracies” he said were reported about the charges against Khobragade involving the maid and enumerated various ways the consular employee allegedly took advantage of the victim. 
 
 “And one wonders why there is so much outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian national accused of perpetrating these acts, but precious little outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian victim and her spouse,” Bharara wrote. 
 
 “Finally, this Office’s sole motivation in this case, as in all cases, is to uphold the rule of law, protect victims, and hold accountable anyone who breaks the law – no matter what their societal status and no matter how powerful, rich or connected they are,” Bharara wrote. 
 
 On Tuesday, as tensions escalated between the U.S. and India, India decided to block perks at the U.S. Embassy such as inexpensive alcohol and food imports. 
 
 A small group of demonstrators held a protest close to the U.S. Embassy in Delhi on Wednesday, demanding an apology while wearing makeshift Obama masks and sarongs made from the American flag. 
 
 NBC's Alexander Smith contributed to this report. ||||| US Attorney Preet Bharara took to the internet today to clarify a few things about Devyani Khobragade, the Indian diplomat who got arrested and strip searched last week for lying about paying her nanny only $3.31 an hour. 
 
 Diplomatic tensions erupted this week with the news of the strip search, prompting India to remove concrete security barriers that had been protecting the American embassy from speeding vehicles and suicide bombers. American diplomatic status was also downgraded. 
 
 International critics seemed particularly incensed over the fact that Khobragade was strip searched, a standard operating procedure for anyone being arrested and booked. 
 
 In fact, according to Bharara, Khobragade was actually given special treatment not typically afforded to other defendants. 
 
 Ms. Khobragade was accorded courtesies well beyond what other defendants, most of whom are American citizens, are accorded. She was not, as has been incorrectly reported, arrested in front of her children. The agents arrested her in the most discreet way possible, and unlike most defendants, she was not then handcuffed or restrained. In fact, the arresting officers did not even seize her phone as they normally would have. Instead, they offered her the opportunity to make numerous calls to arrange personal matters and contact whomever she needed, including allowing her to arrange for child care. This lasted approximately two hours. Because it was cold outside, the agents let her make those calls from their car and even brought her coffee and offered to get her food. It is true that she was fully searched by a female Deputy Marshal — in a private setting — when she was brought into the U.S. Marshals’ custody, but this is standard practice for every defendant, rich or poor, American or not, in order to make sure that no prisoner keeps anything on his person that could harm anyone, including himself. This is in the interests of everyone’s safety. 
 
 Khobragade was arrested, Bharara says, because she "clearly tried to evade U.S. law designed to protect from exploitation the domestic employees of diplomats and consular officers." 
 
 Furthermore, Bharara alleges, Khobragade created a second secret contract where she "deleted the required language protecting the victim from other forms of exploitation and abuse." 
 
 Bharara also sheds some light on the actual victim in the case — Khobragade's nanny. Apparently Indian officials didn't limit their retaliation to American diplomats. 
 
 As also has been reported, legal process was started in India against the victim, attempting to silence her, and attempts were made to compel her to return to India. Further, the Victim’s family reportedly was confronted in numerous ways regarding this case. Speculation about why the family was brought here has been rampant and incorrect. Some focus should perhaps be put on why it was necessary to evacuate the family and what actions were taken in India vis-à-vis them. 
 
 [image via AP]
– The Indian diplomat whose arrest and strip-search has sparked a major international ruckus actually received treatment better than most American citizens could expect, US Attorney Preet Baharara says. He says that contrary to some reports, Devyani Khobragade wasn't busted in front of her children, but was arrested in the most discreet way possible and was allowed to spend two hours making phone calls while agents brought her coffee, Gawker finds. "It is true that she was fully searched by a female Deputy Marshal—in a private setting—when she was brought into the US Marshals’ custody, but this is standard practice for every defendant, rich or poor, American or not," he says. That's precious little consolation for India's foreign minister, who today demanded that the US drop the case, reports the AP. Khobragade was charged with visa fraud for allegedly bringing a maid to the US from India and paying her below minimum wage. In an effort to defuse tensions, John Kerry has spoken to India's national security adviser, who denounced the diplomat's treatment as "despicable and barbaric," NBC reports. Kerry called to "express his regret, as well as his concern that we not allow this unfortunate public issue to hurt our close and vital relationship with India," a State Department spokeswoman says, adding that Kerry, "like all officials in positions of responsibility inside the US government, expects that laws will be followed by everyone here in our country."