Public flag burnings. The removal of security barriers around the United States Embassy in New Delhi. Diplomatic overtures amid talks of sanctions.
The outrage was remarkable, not merely for its proportion, but also for what provoked it: the arrest of an Indian diplomat in Manhattan last week on charges that she fraudulently obtained a work visa for her housekeeper, forced her to work longer hours than agreed to and paid her far less than the minimum wage.
Much of the furor over the arrest of the diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, the deputy consul general in New York, stemmed from reports of her treatment in custody.
Indian officials have been quoted as saying she was arrested and handcuffed as she was leaving her daughter at school, and the Indian news media have run accounts saying she was strip-searched and cavity-searched, and then held with drug addicts before her release on $250,000 bail.

 Devyani Khobragade
REUTERS

The latest development in the case came as American officials expressed concern that relatives of the victim, Sangeeta Richard, might be subjected to intimidation in India, where they lived.
Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, whose office is prosecuting Ms. Khobragade, said in a written statement on Wednesday that it became necessary to “evacuate” the victim’s family, which has been brought to the United States. He said the family “reportedly was confronted in numerous ways regarding this case.”
The State Department on Thursday confirmed, without offering details, that the government had “taken steps to reunite” the family and was aware of “allegations that the family was intimidated in India.”
A person close to Ms. Richard’s family described several episodes that frightened family members. In one case, Ms. Richard’s husband, while bicycling with one of his children, was confronted by a man with a gun who demanded that his wife return home.
Ms. Richard’s husband said he had been called more than once by Ms. Khobragade’s father, who asked him to make his wife return to India, the person said. Yet another time, Ms. Richard’s husband was interrogated by the police in India about his wife’s whereabouts in the United States.
Ms. Khobragade’s lawyer, Daniel N. Arshack, said he had no information concerning Ms. Khobragade’s father. Mr. Arshack called the charges against Ms. Khobragade “false and baseless,” and said she would plead not guilty and was protected from prosecution “by virtue of her diplomatic status.”
“This entire prosecution represents a significant error in judgment and an embarrassing failure of U.S. international protocol,” Mr. Arshack said, adding that he hoped the matter would be resolved promptly.
Mr. Arshack also disputed Mr. Bharara’s characterization that legal action had been brought in India against Ms. Richard, “attempting to silence her.” Mr. Arshack said his client, who had initiated the legal action there, did so in response to a legal complaint Mr. Richard filed about his wife’s treatment and then withdrew. A Delhi high court then ordered that Ms. Richard not take legal action against Ms. Khobragade outside of India.
In India, the furor over Ms. Khobragade’s arrest continued to grow on Thursday, dominating India’s political discussion despite an expression of regret by Secretary of State John Kerry.
“How would the U.S. react if one of their diplomats were subjected to this treatment in India?” said Ravi Sankar Prasad, a spokesman for the Bharatiya Janata Party, the main opposition party in India.
The prosecutor, Mr. Bharara, dismissed such complaints on Wednesday and said Ms. Khobragade was discreetly detained and afforded courtesies “beyond” those accorded United States citizens. He also said she was “fully searched by a female deputy marshal” in a private setting, the standard procedure.
Mr. Bharara’s statements were widely criticized in India, and Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said he would ignore them and demanded the immediate dismissal of all charges against Ms. Khobragade.
“We are not convinced there is a legitimate legal ground for pursuing this case,” he said. “The worst that can be said about her is that she did not comply with the amounts that were supposed to be paid under your law. I don’t think that justifies treating her like a common criminal.”
From November 2012 until about this past June, the complaint said, Ms. Richard worked for Ms. Khobragade “far more than 40 hours a week” and was paid about $3.30 an hour, despite a contract that stated a higher rate.
Ms. Richard’s lawyer, Dana Sussman of Safe Horizon, a victim services agency, said on Thursday: “My client is frustrated with how the media has portrayed this story and the response from the Indian government. The victim in this case is not the criminal defendant. The victim is the person who worked incredibly long hours and was severely underpaid.”
Ms. Khobragade is the third Indian diplomat stationed in New York City in recent years to be accused of exploiting a domestic worker. Domestic servants in India routinely work from dawn to dusk and six or seven days a week for minuscule wages. Their presence is ubiquitous in Indian middle-class homes.
Asked why Indian diplomats seem to run afoul of United States wage-and-hour laws, Mr. Khurshid said that India might not pay its diplomats as much as United States diplomats were paid.
“We try to ensure that they have enough to serve with dignity,” Mr. Khurshid said. “If there is a problem with your law and our settled wage scales, that’s something we need to talk about with your government.”
Benjamin Weiser reported from New York, and Gardiner Harris from New Delhi. Hari Kumar and Malavika Vyawahare contributed reporting from New Delhi, and Neha Thirani Bagri from Mumbai.