rediff.com
News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

Rediff.com  » Business » Strauss-Kahn case: The maid on what EXACTLY happened
This article was first published 13 years ago

Strauss-Kahn case: The maid on what EXACTLY happened

Last updated on: July 25, 2011 13:34 IST

Image: 'Newsweek' cover to be released July 25, 2011 shows Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the alleged victim in the case, Nafissatou Diallo.
Photographs: Reuters Betwa Sharma in New York

The Guinean maid who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former chief of International Monetary Fund, of sexually assaulting her at a hotel in New York has broken her silence for the first time, saying she wants him to go to jail and get her name cleared.

The 32-year-old maid Nafissatou Diallo, recalling the events of May 14 when Strauss-Kahn allegedly forced her to perform oral sex said that the 64-year-old former IMF director suddenly appeared naked at the door of his hotel suite, grabbed and attacked her after slamming the door shut as she implored him to stop.

"I said, 'Sir, stop this. I don't want to lose my job,'" Diallo told Newsweek in a cover story posted online on Sunday.

"But he said, 'You're not going to lose your job'. I didn't look at him. I was so afraid. I didn't expect anyone in the room," she said.

Click on NEXT for more...

Strauss-Kahn case: The maid on what EXACTLY happened

Image: ABC's Robin Roberts (R) talks to Nafissatou Diallo (L) in New York, July 24, 2011.
Photographs: Reuters

Diallo said that Strauss-Kahn pulled her uniform up and tore down her pantyhose, forcefully grabbed her crotch and then gripped her head and forced her to perform oral sex.

"I push him. I get up. I wanted to scare him. I said, 'Look, there is my supervisor right there.'"

But he said that nobody would hear, according to Diallo, who kept pushing him away: "I don't want to hurt him," she told the magazine.

Strauss-Kahn was taken into custody a few minutes before his flight departed for Paris the same day he allegedly assaulted the maid.

"He held my head so hard here," she said.

"I got up. I was spitting. I run. I run out of there. I didn't turn back. I run to the hallway. I was so nervous; I was so scared. I didn't want to lose my job," Diallo told Newsweek that she hid in the hallway and stood near the service lobby to compose herself.

Click on NEXT for more...

Strauss-Kahn case: The maid on what EXACTLY happened

Image: Strauss-Kahn and his wife Anne Sinclair arrive for a hearing at the New York State Supreme Courthouse.
Photographs: Mike Segar/Reuters

"I was standing there spitting. I was so alone. I was so scared. Then she saw the man come out of 2806 and headed for the elevator. I don't know how he got dressed so fast, and with baggage," she said.

The maid, who had not been seen in public since the attack, then said she went back to Strauss-Kahn's room to get her cleaning supplies and tried to regain composure by cleaning.

"I went to the room I have to clean," Diallo said.

Click on NEXT for more...

Strauss-Kahn case: The maid on what EXACTLY happened

Image: The Manhattan Criminal Court building.
Photographs: Allison Joyce/Reuters

The sequence of events have raised questions about Diallo's credibility since she first testified that she hid in the hallway but later said that she cleaned room 2820 and then began to clean the Strauss-Kahn's suite.

The case against the former IMF chief, however, has been weakened considerably after it emerged that maid has been lying to investigators and has criminal connections.

Strauss-Kahn's lawyers have asked for dismissal of the charges against him.

Click on NEXT for more...

Strauss-Kahn case: The maid on what EXACTLY happened

Image: New York City union hotel workers protest as former IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and his wife Anne Sinclair leave Manhattan Criminal Court..
Photographs: Mike Segar/Reuters

They say that the sexual encounter between their client and the maid was consensual.

"What disgusts me is an effort to pressure the prosecutors with street theater, and that is fundamentally wrong," William Taylor, Strauss-Kahn's lawyer told Newsweek.

The court date for the next hearing of the sexual assault case against him is on August 1.

She disputes that she changed her story.

Diallo said she was fighting back against allegations after New York prosecutors openly questioned her credibility, saying she had changed her story and lied on her asylum application.

Click on NEXT for more...

Strauss-Kahn case: The maid on what EXACTLY happened

Image: Newspapers sit in a news kiosk outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse.
Photographs: Lucas Jackson/Reuters

She has also sued New York Post for reporting that she works as a prostitute.

"Because of him (DSK) they call me a prostitute," she said. "I want him to go to jail. I want him to know there are some places you cannot use your power, you cannot use your money."

She said she hoped God punishes him. "We are poor, but we are good," she said.

"I don't think about money."

© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.