Hotel maid cries humiliation, sues Dominique Strauss-Kahn

New York: The hotel maid, who accused former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her, has now sued him in a New York state court seeking damages for a “violent and sadistic attack” that humiliated and degraded her. [caption id=“attachment_56951” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The lawsuit gives detailed account of Strauss-Kahn’s assault on 32-year-old Diallo, saying it caused severe physical injuries to her. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters”] [/caption] Nafissatou Diallo, a Guinean immigrant, filed the civil suit in State Supreme Court in Bronx on Monday seeking unspecified damages for mental anguish. “Believing that he was immune from the laws of this country, Strauss-Kahn intentionally, brutally and violently sexually assaulted Diallo and in the process humiliated, degraded, violated and robbed her of her dignity as a woman,” the 16-page lawsuit said. It adds that Diallo suffered physical and psychological harm due to the “senseless attack” and faces “permanent harm to her professional and personal reputations… from which she may never fully recover”. The civil lawsuit comes even as a criminal case against Strauss-Kahn, 62, is pending in state court in Manhattan. The lawsuit gives detailed account of Strauss-Kahn’s assault on 32-year-old Diallo, saying it caused severe physical injuries to her. Diallo’s lawyer Kenneth Thompson said in court papers that he was prepared to produce testimony from other women who say they were attacked by Strauss-Kahn in “hotel rooms around the world”. On the timing of the lawsuit, Thompson said, “Diallo has filed her lawsuit now because she wants to vindicate her rights, assert her dignity as a woman and hold Dominique Strauss-Kahn accountable for the violent and deplorable acts that he committed against her.” Reacting to the lawsuit, Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers William Taylor and Benjamin Brafman said in a statement that the civil suit has no merit and Strauss-Kahn will defend it vigorously. They said they had always maintained that the motivation of Thompson and his client was to make money. “The filing of this lawsuit ends any doubt on that question,” the statement said. PTI