Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 10: The malice has reached the Indian Air Force. An IAF officer of the rank of Wing Commander has been booked by the Jammu and Kashmir police on charges of rape complained by a woman flying officer of the IAF. Both of them are posted at the IAF station, Srinagar.
The FIR was filed at the Budgam police station on September 8 under Section 376 (2) of the IPC which was in force at the time of the alleged incident on January 1, 2024. The section pertains to rape by a person in a position of trust or authority.
The woman officer has also alleged “continuous harassment, sexual assault, and mental torture” that she has been subjected to over the last two years, primarily by authorities at the Air Force Station, Srinagar.
The Indian Air Force has said they are cooperating with authorities. “We are aware of the case. Local police station Budgam has approached the Indian Air Force in Srinagar in this matter and we are fully cooperating with the local authorities,” the IAF said.
In her complaint, which is part of the FIR, the woman officer has alleged that she was forced to perform a sexual act on him after the New Year’s Party held at the Officers’ Mess, Air Force Station, Srinagar, on December 31, 2023. She has alleged that the sexual assault took place in a room at around 2 am on January 1 after the Wing Commander asked her to come to a room to receive a New Year gift.
The woman officer said at the New Year party at the officers’ mess her senior asked if she had received the gift. When she said she had not, the Wing Commander said the gifts were in his room and took her there. When she asked where his family was, he said they were elsewhere.
The flying officer has alleged that her senior forced her into oral sex and “pressed her breasts.” “I repeatedly asked him to stop doing it and tried to resist it in all ways possible. Finally, I pushed him and ran away. He said that we would meet me on Friday again when his family leaves,” she has said.
The flying officer said it took her a while to register what happened to her. “I was afraid and didn’t know what to do as there were instances before also wherein I was discouraged to report. He visited my office post this incident… He behaved as if nothing happened and there was no sign of remorse in his eyes,” she said.
The woman officer said she reached out to two other women officers and they guided her to file a complaint. “I can’t describe (the) mental agony. I went into a mental shock being new to the atmosphere in the forces. I was embarrassed and… broken to that extent … lacking courage to report. I can’t describe the mental agony, being an unmarried girl… treated in such a heinous manner… the incident and nightmares put me in the dilemma of whether to discuss or be quiet, finally I took a call and decided to fight,” the woman officer said in her complaint. The officer has accused senior IAF officers of the station of not taking her complaint seriously.
Following her complaint, she said, a Colonel-rank officer was ordered to investigate the incident. The Wing Commander was made to sit down with her twice in January this year to record the statements, she has alleged. She has said she objected to the senior officer’s presence and later the investigation was closed to “hide mistakes of administration”.
“It took two months for Station to assemble an Internal Committee (IC)… on April 2, 2024, Internal Committee assembled. The bias of Station authorities to aid the sexual offender was very heart-breaking for me… Medical examination was not done till the time I insisted multiple times. It was done on the last day of the investigation by the Internal Committee,” her complaint stated.
According to the complainant, she urged the Internal Committee to summon a witness who had been made to “run away” from the camp area before giving his statement. But the Internal Committee, her complaint stated, did not do so despite being provided “all facts and bringing out lies and contradictions” of the “tutored witnesses.”
According to the complainant, the committee later said it was “inconclusive that the incident happened or not” because of “lack of eyewitness.” The investigation, she said, ended on May 15 and “till date no action has been taken on anyone and no intimation has been given to me.”
The woman officer alleged that she was forced to approach the J&K Police to lodge an FIR after finding that no action was being taken by the IAF authorities. The Public Relations Officer of the IAF in New Delhi did not respond to an email, seeking comments on the FIR and the allegations of the woman officer.
Colonel Amit Kumar (retd), counsel for the woman officer, said it has to be understood how much courage was required to report such incidents. “She is a junior officer and not expected to know the existing laws and actions. The Commanding Officer has an important role while dealing with officers of such seniority. I was shocked when the victim reported to me about all such acts and harassments. There should be no compromise with the dignity of women. My advice to the IAF authorities would be that she should be detached from the present unit in order to keep impartiality alive,” he said.
IC (internal committee) did not do its job properly as directions had come from higher formation to keep the result as neutral. Everyone was aiding the sexual offender,” the flying officer has said.
“I requested for interim relief and requested for leave multiple times but I was denied leave each time,” she said, alleging that her requests for a different posting for herself or the Wing Commander were not heeded either.
“I am forced to socialise with these people and attend events with my abuser…While he is enjoying. I am getting harassed in (the) hands of authorities on a daily basis,” she has said. The Internal Committee said the probe was inconclusive whether the incident happened or not because of the lack of an eyewitness and closed its probe in May. “Isn’t it common sense that someone would not do sexual assault in front of a witness?”
The flying officer has complained of “continuous mental harassment” and “social boycott”. “My personal communications have been constantly monitored unofficially. The individuals I speak with are harassed by the authorities.” The ongoing harassment, she said, has had a severe impact on her mental health. “I am living in constant fear, under 24/7 scrutiny and my social life has been completely disrupted. The harassment has driven me to suicidal thoughts, and I feel utterly helpless. I am unable to carry on with my daily life, and my social interactions are closely monitored and discouraged by authorities. I have endured this torture for too long, and I am at my breaking point,” she has said.
Earlier in 2021, an IAF woman pilot complained that she was sexually harassed by her Flight Commander in Jammu and Kashmir.