Devyani Khobragade - A doctor turned diplomat

New Delhi: Devyani Khobragade, who is caught in the line of fire, is the daughter of a retired IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre Uttam Khobragade. Born and brought up in Mumbai, she went to Mount Carmel school. Later she did MBBS from Seth GS medical college and KEM hospital in Mumbai. But she did not pursue her career in medicine and opted for the Foreign Service. Her uncle Dr Ajay M Gondane is also an IFS officer of 1985 batch.

Beautiful and intelligent Devyani cleared the prestigious Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1999. She handled political division of Indian missions in Pakistan, Italy and Germany before moving to the much coveted Indian embassy in the United States of America (USA). She is currently posted as a deputy consul general of India in New York.

Devyani is married to a professor and has two daughters aged three and six years. "Devyani works for the Indian Foreign Service. She is currently a Director in the Ministry of External Affairs. Devyani has worked in the political divisions of the Indian Missions in Pakistan, Italy and Germany. She has studied Medicine and is proficient in English, Hindi, German, and her mother tongue, Marathi. Devyani originally belongs to Mumbai. Her passions are travelling, reading, yoga, music and dancing. Apart from proudly raising two beautiful girls, she also wishes to contribute towards dalit and gender equality in her country," her profile among 2012 Chevening Rolls-Royce scholars says. She was selected for the Chevening Rolls-Royce scholarship in 2012.

Devyani had tweeted a few months ago mentioning about her involvement in social service "I am helping to change the way the world sees arts education. Join me in supporting Project Art."

She claims that her passions are traveling, reading, yoga, music and dancing.

Devyani is not new to controversies. Her name was figured in Mumbai's Adarsh Housing society scam, two years ago. According to media reports Devyani, who already owned a house in Mumbai which was also allotted under the state government's 10 per cent quota got another flat at the Adarsh in 2005-06.

Even though Devyani and her father were never questioned by the CBI, her father had deposed before a two-member commission of enquiry probing the Adarsh scam. He had told the commission that it was not his or his daughter's duty to inform the government about the flats owned by them.

She had hired an Indian woman Sangeetha Richard as a babysitter and domestic assistant in late 2012. Her babysitter left for a departmental store in last June and never returned. She went to an American attorney who is specialized in immigration matters and complained about the alleged Visa fraud. The Indian embassy in the USA declared the nanny absconder and requested the US authorities to deport her.

Devyani went to the Delhi High Court asking it to restrain her former employee. The Delhi high court ordered Sangeetha Richard not institute any action against Devyani outside the Indian judiciary.

Since her nanny is now an illegal migrant in the USA, Indian laws have little control over her.