Amrit Lugun (born 22 November 1962, in

Ranchi Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

) is a retired IFS officer, who served as the Ambassador of India to Greece.

Early life

Lugun's mother-in-law

Sushila Kerketta Sushila Kerketta (27 April 1939 – 19 October 2009) was a member of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha from 1985 to 2000 and also in Lok sabha from Khunti. She held several important portfolios in the Bihar government. She was minister of state for irri ...

was a Congress MLA and the party candidate from

Khunti Khunti is the headquarter of Khunti district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is in South Chotanagpur division and one of the 24 districts in the Indian state of Jharkhand. The district of Khunti was carved out of Ranchi district on 12 Sept ...

parliamentary constituency in

Career

Lugun served as Desk Officer for India Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme in the Ministry of External Affairs from July 1993 to June 1995. He was a Second Secretary, Embassy of India, Doha,

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

from June 1995 to September 1998. He served as First Secretary at the Embassy of India, Paris, France from October 1998 to December 2001. During his time in Paris, Lugun was accused of beating and sexually abusing Lalita Oraon, his family's live-in servant. The case would cast a shadow on

France–India relations France–India relations or the Indo–French relations are the bilateral relations between the French Republic and the Republic of India. The two nations are traditionally characterised by a close and special relationship. In August 2019, a re ...

. After Paris, Lugun was First Secretary at the Embassy of India,

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, Algeria from January 2002 to August 2004. At the Ministry of External Affairs from September 2004 to December 2008, he was a Director in the territorial divisions of Eurasia and Latin America. From March 2009 to September 2010 he was posted to the Indian Embassy, Manila. He then served as Director in the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu, Nepal. Later he was Ambassador of India to the

Republic of Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the northeast, the south-eastern part of the Arabian Sea to the east, the Gulf of Aden to the south ...

and then Joint Secretary of Consular, Passports and Visas at Ministry of External Affairs.

Lalita Oraon abuse case

While Lugun served as the First Secretary at the Indian Embassy in Paris in 1999, his family's live-in servant, Lalita Oraon, escaped from the household. She was put in the custody of the Committee Against Modern Slavery, an anti-slavery NGO, after being found on Paris streets by police. Oraon alleged she was beaten, threatened, and sexually abused by her employer. Oroan was examined by medical staff at

Hôpital Cochin The Hôpital Cochin () is a hospital of public assistance in the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Jacques Paris 14e. It houses the central burn treatment centre of the city. The Hôpital Cochin is a section of the Faculté de Médecine Paris-Cité. It commem ...

in Paris. According to a doctor speaking to ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'', Oraon had suffered "knife wounds, three to 6 cm deep, all around the vagina" and described the injuries as "consistent with an act of torture or deliberate mutilation". The Indian Ambassador in Paris at the time

Kanwal Sibal Kanwal Sibal (born 18 November 1943) is a career diplomat who retired as Foreign Secretary to the Government of India. In 2017, The Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri award for his distinguished services in the field of Public Affair ...

strongly supported Lugun and in a statement, the Indian Embassy accused the anti-slavery group of "indecent lies" against Lugun and claimed Oraon had suffered cuts to her genitals while jumping off the wall to escape from the convent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lugun, Amrit 1962 births Living people Munda people People from Ranchi Prime Minister's Office (India) Indian Christians Ambassadors of India to Greece Ambassadors of India to Yemen Ambassadors of India to Sudan