India diplomat Devyani Khobragade indicted 'but leaves US'
Ms Khobragade's case caused outrage in India An Indian diplomat whose arrest in the US sparked protests from India has been given diplomatic immunity and has left the US, prosecutors say.
They wrote to a New York judge on Thursday announcing a grand jury had indicted Devyani Khobragade but said she would be "unavailable" for trial.
Ms Khobragade was detained on charges of visa fraud and of underpaying her housekeeper in New York last month.
India had demanded an apology for her "humiliation" including a strip-search.
US Attorney Preet Bharara said in the letter to the judge: "We understand that the defendant was very recently accorded diplomatic immunity status and that she departed the United States today."
He said authorities would continue to prosecute the case if Ms Khobragade, 39, was to return to the US in a "non-immune capacity".
Ms Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, was detained on suspicion of visa fraud and making false statements, after being accused of paying her Indian maid below the US minimum wage.
She was handcuffed and strip-searched after a complaint from the maid, Sangeeta Richard.
Ms Khobragade denied all the charges and in turn accused Ms Richard of theft and attempted blackmail.
Delhi ordered a series of diplomatic reprisal measures against the US, and relations between the two countries have been strained over the case.
Security barricades around the US embassy in the capital were removed and a visiting US delegation was snubbed by senior Indian politicians and officials.
And on Wednesday, the US embassy in Delhi was ordered to stop "commercial activities on its premises". India also said that embassy cars could be penalised for traffic offences.
The embassy has been told to shut down a club within its premises which includes a pool, restaurant and tennis court, NDTV news channel said.
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