The Pascal Mazurier Rape Case:
Between being arrested for raping his child (2012) to being an advocate for 'fatherhood' (2017)
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Scroll.inSuja Jones had long been suspecting that her infant daughter was being sexually abused. Her suspicions were confirmed when she returned home to see her daughter crying after having spent nearly four hours with her husband Pascal Mazurier in their bedroom. Following this, in June 2012, she filed a complaint against Mazurier that began a five year long battle against not only her husband, but also society, that repeatedly accused her of being a 'bad mother'. In April 2017, Mazurier was acquitted by the Karnataka district court, the verdict stating that he was innocent and that Suja was using her daughter as a 'weapon' to stop him from leaving India.
2012
- Suja Jones had been experiencing domestic violence by her husband Pascal Mazurier, a diplomat at the French Consulate, Bangalore. In 2010, she suspects that her then two year old child, could be a victim of sexual abuse. She takes her daughter for sessions with Dr. Saldhana at Enfold.
- June 5th 2012: Dr. Saldhana confirms Suja Jones’s belief of child sexual abuse based on her child’s reactions.
Source: 1. http://www.firstpost.com/india/french-diplomat-rape-case-when-it-all-began-350168.html
- 13th June, 2012: Suja Jones comes home to see her daughter crying. She is informed by her domestic help that Mazurier spent a long time in the bedroom with their daughter and that she had been crying since. She takes her daughter to the Baptist hospital immediately.
Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/french-diplomat-held-on-charge-of-raping-his-child/article3531968.ece
- 14th June, 2012: Suja files a police complaint, after she is orally informed by the Collaborative Child Response Unit of the Baptist Hospital that the child showed tell-tale marks of sexual abuse. The doctors at the hospital claim that it is a medico legal case, and therefore retain the medical report with the intention of submitting it to the police themselves later. Pascal Mazurier is held by the Bangalore police on charges of rape. The FIR was registered under Section 376 of the IPC at the High Grounds police station, where he is held for the night and released the next morning. He is not arrested because the French Consul General asks the Police Commissioner not to arrest him till the matter about his diplomatic status was sorted out. Not having a diplomatic passport in India, Pascal was never a diplomat. However, the Consul General was just playing with time or trying to see how they could protect Pascal.
- 19th June, 2012: There are protests and demonstrations in Bangalore against Pascal Mazurier, by organisations including Enfold. Following this, Mazurier is arrested. The French Embassy draws out a statement saying it would provide full cooperation with the investigation of the case and says that Mazurier does not hold diplomatic immunity and will be tried in India. Suja Jones requests the French Embassy for financial support for herself and her three children.
- 8th July, 2012: The Bangalore police claim that the results of the DNA tests of the samples collected from Mazurier were 'inconclusive'.
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2170597/Bangalore-police-say-DNA-test-report-rape-accused-French-father-inconclusive.html#ixzz4jI8D2E5h
Source: MANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP / Getty Images
- 26th July, 2012: Mazurier appeals for bail on several occasions. The bail is denied in the lower court. However, later, in the high court he is granted bail.
- 17th September, 2012: Pascal Mazurier is officially charged for the rape of his daughter. He once again appeals for a bail.
- 16th October, 2012: Mazurier released on a bail from the high court for Rs.100,000/ from the Parapanna Agrahara jail.
Source:http://www.firstpost.com/india/french-diplomat-accused-of-raping-daughter-gets-bail-493391.html
2013
- January, 2013: Police files an additional charge sheet against Mazurier, with a detailed report of doctors who said the accused sodomised and raped his daughter for two years.
4Youtube.com
- 17th June, 2013: Mens Rights Activists and other groups including CRISP (http://www.crisp-india.org/) support Mazurier. Photos of Mazurier appear with MRA community, holding placards saying “ papa loves you” . During this period, Pascal is seen ( based on images found on the web), to be working towards building public sympathy towards him. With the help of Men’s Rights Activist groups, Mazurier moves a petition seeking custody and visitation rights for his three children before the family court. Court grants him visitation rights for the two sons, once a month.
Source: http://www.firstpost.com/india/bangalore-french-diplomats-mother-seeks-right-to-see-his-kids-876349.html http://www.crisp-india.org/
- 22nd December, 2013: Mazurier continues to work towards building public sympathy towards him. He tells reporters in December 2013, that the "ordeal and ill-treatment" he has faced is comparable to the "humiliation" suffered by Devyani Khobragade, the Indian diplomat who had been strip-searched and arrested in New York.
Source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/131222/news-current-affairs/article/i-was-treated-devyani-here-pascal-mazurier
2014
- Trial begins in the rape and sodomy case in the Special Court. BT Venkatesh, lawyer, represents Suja Jones.
Source:1.
2.http://www.firstpost.com/india/bangalore-court-charges-french-official-in-sex-abuse-case-1383517.html
- 15th February, 2014: Jones files an application pressing for sodomy charges against Mazurier.
- 12th March, 2014: Bangalore Court allows sodomy charge against Mazurier.
Source:http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-bangalore-court-allows-sodomy-charge-against-french-consular-official-pascal-mazurier-1968762
- 16th April, 2014: Mazurier approaches Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ‘speedy justice’.
5BCCL 2014
- 15th June, 2014: The Consul general applies to be present at court to ensure that the rights of the accused were respected. (since these are ‘in camera’ proceedings the public is not allowed at the hearings.) . The court allows them to be present. Following this, a member of the consulate was always present in court. (that definitely put pressure on the courts too).
2012 – 2017 Photos of Pascal Mazurier appear on the internet.
6SouthLive.com
7(Photo Courtesy: DNA, 2015)
8(Photo Courtesy: AFP, 2016)
Based on evidence found on the internet, Mazurier seems to have approached various organisations and Men’s Rights Activist groups to garner support. He claims that he has been ‘framed’ by his wife, who was trying to ‘tarnish (his) career and reputation’ and stop him from leaving for South Africa on a posting.
He has asked the police to investigate his wife and the actions that she has taken. He says he is a ‘loving father’ who wants to ‘be there’ for his children, and that his wife is trying to take them away from him. He has led several demonstrations demanding his rights of “fatherhood”.
The court refuses to discharge Mazurier, ruling there was sufficient evidence for him to face trial. Judge of the Special Court for child rights Shubha Gouder, framed charges against him, under IPC Section 376 .
On 25th December, 2015, after being granted permission, Mazurier visited his children in the presence of a supervisor.
Source: 1. http://www.firstpost.com/india/pascal-mazurier-on-alleged-child-rape-i-have-been-framed-353029.html
3. http://www.firstpost.com/india/french-embassy-rape-case-mazurier-wants-wife-investigated-518245.html
4. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/519253/pascal-meet-daughter-xmas-wife.html
2017
- 23rd April, 2017: Mazurier is acquitted for the case on the grounds that he was “falsely implicated” and was innocent. Judge BS Rekha rules that the child had not been abused at all, and that it was a urinary infection that was causing the pain. According to the verdict, Jones is using her child as a ‘weapon’ to stop her husband from leaving the country. Accusing her of being a ‘bad mother’, the verdict goes on to discuss details of Jones’s life, for example: "Her dress sense was objected (to) by the accused. She used to party at home and (has) also taken inappropriate photographs of herself in 2005 when her husband was not at home and the accused was not happy with her behaviour". Jones is determined to challenge this verdict in the Karnataka High Court.
Timeline prepared by Ananya , Action Hero Intern at Blank Noise, June/ July 2017. Ananya is a student at Azim Premji University.
Additional resources/ articles
Misogyny in the Pascal Mazurier Judgement - Huffington Post #INeverAskForIt
Pascal Mazurier acquitted: Judgement seems less about the crime itself, than moralising on mother's lifestyle- FirstPost
Pascal Mazurier-Suja Jones case ruling shows the 'motherhood' trope has become farcical- FirstPost
Pascal Mazurier-Suja Jones case ruling shows the 'motherhood' trope has become farcical- FirstPost
