The FINANCIAL — Nafissatou Diallo, the maid who accused former IMF Chief of sexually assaulting in a New York City hotel room, has ended her silence and gone public.
According to BBC, She gave her first interview for Robin Roberts of ABC News on “Good Morning America”.
CNN previously has not identified Diallo, given the network's policy against naming sexual assault victims. But it is now naming her, in light of her decision to make her case to the media.
On May 14, Diallo accused Strauss-Kahn — who besides being a global economic leader had been mentioned as a leading contender for the French presidency — of assaulting her at Manhattan's Sofitel Hotel, where she was an employee. He was charged in New York with sexual abuse and attempted rape, pleading not guilty on all counts.
According to CNN, in an interview conducted at her lawyer's office in New York City, Diallo told Newsweek that Strauss-Kahn was naked when he slammed the door shut to his luxury hotel room, forced himself upon her and tried to make her perform oral sex on him.
"Because of him they call me a prostitute," Diallo said, referring to published reports she had sex for money. "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."
Strauss-Kahn was initially arrested at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport while on board a Paris-bound plane. His arrest created an international furor, prompting his resignation as IMF chief as New York Judge Michael Obus ordered him held under a $6 million bail.
As BBC says, Ms Diallo told Newsweek magazine: "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."
The 32-year-old immigrant from Guinea told the magazine that she was scared about losing her job when she eventually ran from the room where the incident allegedly took place.
But Mr Strauss-Kahn's representatives accused her of conducting a "media campaign" to persuade prosecutors to pursue charges against the former IMF chief, Reuters news agency reported.
He is charged with seven counts including four more serious felony charges – two of criminal sexual acts, one of attempted rape and one of sexual abuse – plus three misdemeanour offences, including unlawful imprisonment.
But some US media reports say the case is close to collapse. Court prosecutors have said that the maid gave false testimony to a grand jury, citing inconsistencies in her account of the sequence of events on the day.
Mr Strauss-Kahn was released from house arrest on 1 July and had his $6m (£3.7m) cash bail and bond returned.
Meanwhile, French authorities are investigating allegations that Mr Strauss-Kahn attempted to rape French writer Tristane Banon a decade earlier.
Mr Strauss-Kahn denies any wrongdoing, and has launched a counter-claim, suing Ms Banon for making false statements.
Ms Diallo has also granted an interview to the ABC news network, excerpts of which are due to be broadcast on Monday.
As the BBC remarks, until she came forward for interview, her name had not been reported by media outlets which normally protect the identities of people who say they have been sexually assaulted.
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