Devyani Khobragade Biography

Devyani Khobragade (Dr Devyani Khobragade) is an Indian official who is in news for an alleged Visa Fraud case in US. She is an Indian Foreign Service officer functioning as Deputy Consul General in the Consulate General of India in New York.

Devyani is 39 year old. She is from financial capital of India -Mumbai (Maharashtra). She belongs to a bureaucrat family. Her father Mr Uttam Khobragade is a retired IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre. Her uncle Dr Ajay M Gondane is a 1985 batch IFS and High Commissioner of Papua New Guinea. Devyani went to Mount Carmel School and then studied medicine at Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital, Parel in Mumbai. After her medical degree she joined Indian Foreign Service in 1999. Devyani has two kids.On her first diplomatic posting, in Germany, she met an academic, Aakash Singh Rathore, who would become her husband. The couple has two daughters, ages 7 and 4. Aakash Singh Rathore, a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania is a New York born american citizen.


In 2012, she was selected for Chevening Rolls-Royce Science and Innovation Leadership Programme and completed the course. Devyani is proficient in English, Hindi, German and Marathi. She loves travelling, reading, yoga, music and dancing. She is a big fan of James Eugene “Jim” Carrey, a Canadian American actor, comedian and producer.

Visa Fraud Incident

On December 11, 2013, Devyani , then the Deputy Consul General of the Consulate General of India in New York City, was charged by U.S. authorities with committing visa fraud and providing false statements in order to gain entry to the United States for a woman named Sangeeta Richard of Indian nationality, for the potential employment as a domestic worker for Devyani in New York.Khobragade was arrested the next day by U.S. federal law enforcement authorities[2] and was then subjected to a search of her body cavities commonly called a "strip search". Her arrest and treatment have received much media attention particularly in India, and have led to a major diplomatic standoff between India and the United States. On December 18, 2013, She was transferred by the government of India to the UN mission in New York, subject to clearance from the United States Department of State, which would entitle her to full diplomatic immunity.Her former post only entitled her to consular immunity.