Monday, May 16, 2011

Immunity for British IMF chief over 'wife assault'

Deena Shehata, 28, claims she was “manhandled” and forced from her home by her husband Paul Ross, but police were unable to do anything because of her husband’s job status.

The couple married in July 2007 and moved to Pakistan a year later when Mr Ross, 51, from Wembley, was appointed the IMF’s Resident Representative in Pakistan, in charge of an $11 billion (£7.5 billion) economic stabilisation programme.

Holders of such posts usually carry a United Nations diplomatic passport.

The couple’s marriage allegedly broke down and Miss Shehata said she returned to their home — a smart two-storey villa, protected by guards and barbed wire, in an area of the city popular with wealthy expats — on Friday to collect some of her belongings. She alleges that her husband grew impatient before forcing her out of the house.

“I was humiliated as my husband asked our guards to remove me from my own home,” she wrote in a statement for police.

A doctor’s report detailed bruises, cuts and grazes and concluded she was “mentally depressed over [the] trauma, she is feeling helplessness and is scared.”

Miss Shehata, a British-born academic, said she was desperate to leave Pakistan as soon as possible.

She said she was disappointed at the way police handled the case, and that appeals for help to the IMF had not helped her find justice.

“The best solution they have is to get me out of here quickly and safely,” she said, adding that the system seemed to want her removed from the scene like a “broken toy” rather than questioning her husband.

Sub Inspector Abbas, the police officer dealing with the case said that as soon as they found out that Mr Ross had diplomatic status they abandoned the case. He said they took a statement from Miss Shehata and did not investigate any further.

Miss Shehata’s supporters said yesterday that they would take the case to Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs.

Asma Jahangir, a human rights lawyer, said: “This is an issue where there must not and should not be immunity for diplomats or any man.”

Paul Ross said: "I am saddened by the allegations made by my wife, which are untrue, and I look forward to an independent investigation that will establish the true facts."

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