Armyman held for sexual harassment

An Army man has been arrested for allegedly sexually harassing a woman in her early twenties at Sector 43 on Monday morning. According to the police, the victim, from Nawashahar, Punjab, filed a police complaint saying that she was sexually harassed by the accused while waiting for the bus at ISBT, Sector 43.

“The accused has been identified as Subash Chander, a hawaldar. He is a resident of Ludhiana and is accused of passing vulgar remarks at the victim. Initially, she ignored him and started walking towards the entry gate. But the man allegedly followed her and stopped her, passing filthy remarks,” said a police official. Police said the accused was posted at the Dehradun Army headquarters.

via The Times of India.

Army school principal quits after sexual harassment charge

Sweta Dutta.

Facing sexual harassment charges, Rajiv Kumar Singh last week made a hushed exit as principal of Army Public School in Jaipur. Now, he is said to have been appointed principal of Navodaya Vidyalaya at Lalitpur in Bundelkhand.

Singh was accused of sexual harassment by Mangala Bhatt, an art teacher, in November 2010 but was given a clean chit by internal inquiries. Bhatt then moved court in July, 2011. She is scheduled to be cross examined on April 16.

Bhatt and activists supporting her have written to the Vidyalaya — as well as the Central Board of Secondary Education, Lalitpur district magistrate and the HRD Ministry — to cancel Singh’s appointment. “He has harassed several women teachers and staff in the Army Public School and now he has made a hushed exit hoping to get away from the court case. What is shocking is that he has been appointed principal yet again and in a school under the Central government,” Bhatt told The Indian Express.

Rajasthan People’s Union for Civil Liberties leader Kavita Srivastava added, “Two wrongs have been committed. First, the Army Public School has concealed information regarding the legal case against Singh while issuing his character certificate. Second, the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti has failed to check his antecedents before appointing him.”

She pointed out that Singh has been appointed head of a school that has over 200 girl students and several women teachers. “Are they not under threat? We demand reversal of his appointment and if this is not done, we will go to the highest level. With such background how can one be appointed to a position of responsibility, that too in a government school?” she asked.

Defence spokesperson Colonel S D Goswami, meanwhile, said Singh had “resigned of his own accord from school on February 24″. On why he was issued a clean character certificate, Goswami reasoned that inquiries by the Army had cleared him of charges. Bhatt alleged that Singh had been harassing her since she joined the school in 2006 and in November 2010, abused her and pushed her “with a blunt blow to the chest”. Not long after, Bhatt was sacked for “lacking English language skills”.

The Army had claimed the case was a “conspiracy” to malign Singh and instead started a probe into charges that Bhatt “showed disrespect” to the principal after she was sacked.

via Indian Express.

Army jawan booked for sexually harassing married woman

An Army jawan was booked on the alleged charges of sexually harassing a married woman at Gangaicha Ahir village in Rewari district, police has said.

The jawan, identified as Sunil Kumar of Mohammadpur village of the district, yesterday forcibly entered the house of Ravinder Yadav in the village and sexually harassed his wife while he had gone outside for some work, they said.

However, hearing her cries for help, the woman’s in-laws came to her rescue immediately following which the Army jawan fled from the spot.

The accused also threatened them of dire consequences if they revealed the incident to anyone, police said.

A case has been registered against the absconding accused while the further probes are on, they added.

-via Zee News

Sexual harassment charge on Lt Col by woman officer

A woman Army officer has filed a case against a Lieutenant Colonel, alleging that he sexually harassed her on the pretext of marrying her.

The woman officer, a Lieutenant in the Army Hospital here, filed a police complaint against the Lieutenant Colonel, posted in Uttarkashi, in the Cantt police station alleging that he cheated and sexually harassed her over a period of time after promising to marry her.

The woman, a divorcee, also claimed that the officer had married her in a temple, but when she asked him to register the marriage, he refused saying that he was already married.

Further investigations into the allegations are on.

-via Indian Express.

Sex scandal at Army school

Army authorities criticised the investigations being held in the alleged sexual harassment of a teacher at Jaipur Army School.

The Army came in support of the accused principal after a non-government organisation came in support of the lady teacher who has made the allegation against the principal and demanded suspension of the accused.

“According to us principal Rajeev Kumar is a threat to the witnesses, the women teaching staff and girl students. We demand protection for witnesses and a fair investigation,” said Kavita Srivastava, of People’s Union For Civil Liberties (PUCL).

The lady teacher had made a complaint of sexual harassment by the school principal to the school chairman on November 22, 2010.

The school authorities held two inquiries on the complaint and concluded that the complainant teacher, along with a few other staff members, had allegedly conspired to malign the school administration.

The teacher was subsequently issued a show-cause notice in February and later her services were terminated from the school.

An FIR has been registered against the principal at the Vaishali Nagar Police station after the complainant moved the court.

Alleging the school authorities of being partial, the PUCL representatives alleged that both the inquiries were held in violation of Vishakha guidelines of Supreme Court.

The army authorities however ridiculed the charges.

-via Daily Bhaskar

Relationship with senior IAF officer blamed for female officer’s suicide

Flying Officer Anjali Gupta

Milind Ghatwai.

Dismissed Indian Air Force (IAF) officer Anjali Gupta was in a relationship with a senior officer and she committed suicide because he reneged on his promise to marry her, her family alleged on Monday.

Group Officer Amit Gupta, currently posted in Nagpur, could be booked for abetment to suicide, the police said, accusing him of misleading them on Sunday when Anjali’s body was at his sister’s house in Bhopal. While the officer has been questioned, no FIR has been filed yet.

The 35-year-old, the first woman to be court martialled by the IAF, hanged herself from a ceiling fan when she was alone in the duplex apartment while Amit and his relatives were away in Delhi for his son’s engagement. Nearly 15 litres of petrol kept in two bottles and a carboy was also found in the room where Anjali ended her life using her own dupatta.

According to sources, even during the court martial proceedings, Anjali had been kept under “house arrest” and close observation as there were indications that she might attempt to commit suicide.

While the IAF has refused to comment on the case, holding that she was a civilian, officials said that the IAF would extend full cooperation to the police probe.

Amit had told the police that Anjali was on her way to Bangalore, where she was working with a private company, but broke her journey on September 7 to be in Bhopal. The 52-year-old identified Anjali as a “family friend” and said she refused to accompany him to Delhi for the ceremony.

On Monday, he kept avoiding the police after promising to turn up at the Shahpura Police Station.

CSP Rajesh Bhadoria said Amit would be booked under Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the IPC after the family’s member allegations.

“Amit made Anjali believe for years that he was in the process of divorcing his wife and would marry her, but when his son’s engagement was arranged she realised he had deceived her,’’ Anjali’s brother-in-law Jitender Garg told The Indian Express. No note was found on the body and the preliminary post-mortem report confirmed that Anjali had committed suicide.

Garg, a lawyer, blamed Amit for Anjali’s problems leading to Anjali’s eventual dismissal. Amit’s wife lives separately in Bhopal. Whenever Anjali came here, she stayed with Amit’s sister, Anjali’s family members said.

-via Indian Express.

Army officer booked for sodomy

An army officer has been booked for sodomy after he was accused of sexually harassing a minor boy in Doda district, police said.

Parents of a class six student alleged that a junior commissioned officer of 10 Rashtriya Rifle Subedar Dilbag Singh had lured the boy by giving him some snacks and Rs10 and took him to an army camp at Mangota in Marmat area of the district on Sunday where he sexually harassed the minor, they said.

The medical reports of the minor are still awaited, they said, adding the accused is yet to be arrested.

The army has ordered a court of inquiry into the incident, an army officer said, adding that they had taken statements of the victim and are investigating the matter.

Meanwhile, irked over the incident locals assembled at Mangota demanding action against the accused.

-via DNA

Colonel accused of molestation approaches AFT for relief

A Colonel who is accused of molesting a woman in a hotel has approached the Armed Forces Tribunal against the Court of Inquiry (CoI) ordered against him by the Army.

Colonel Sandeep Singh is charged of “misdemeanour” against a woman in a hotel”s casino in Gangtok on December 1 while attending a higher command course there last year.

Denying the charges levelled against him, the officer has asked the Tribunal to quash the inquiry against him.

The final report of the CoI ordered by Army’s Sikkim-based 17 Mountain Division is still awaited.

Col Singh allegedly misbehaved with the woman in an inebriated state and was accompanied by two other similar-rank officers, who have been made witnesses in the case.

The Colonel had allegedly called up the hotel front desk and asked for a woman to be sent to his room.

-via MSN India

Indian Army Colonel wanted women to be sent to his hotel room

With details emerging of three army colonels under scanner for immoral activities, a court of inquiry has found a colonel guilty of “misdemeanour” after a probe revealed that he asked the front desk of the hotel he was staying in to send a woman up to his room while on training in Gangtok.

Sources said the army would decide whether to proceed on the court’s recommendations against Colonel Sandeep Singh, who was facing charges of misbehaving with a woman while drunk at a casino.

Four colleagues, including two others of Singh’s rank, were witness to his behaviour, the court said.

They had gone to Gangtok earlier this month as part of their forward area tour, mandatory under the course.

-via The Telegraph

Sexual harassment: Lt General gets away with reprimand

Former Army engineer-in-chief, Lt General A K Nanda, who was accused of sexually harassing a colonel’s wife, has been punished with just an administrative reprimand for violating service decorum. The complainant Colonel SPS Pasricha, who was the technical secretary to Nanda, was also not spared for trying to mislead the court.

“The Chief of Army Staff has administered reproof to both the officers under the regulations of the Army,” Defence Minister A K Antony said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. In army parlance “reproof” is an administrative action that ranges from warning to censure and puts a black spot on the service career of an officer.

In May, Nanda and Pasricha went to Israel on an official tour with their spouses. After their return home, Pasricha’s wife complained to Bharati Singh, wife of the Army chief, that Nanda went to her hotel room when her husband was not there and misbehaved with her. Pasricha, too, complained separately.

Nanda’s wife, however, defended her husband. Singh promptly brought the incident to her husband’s notice who instituted a Court of Inquiry under the chairmanship of Lt Gen A S Lamba, who was then commander-in-chief of Shimla-based Army Training Command. Incidentally, Lamba took over as the new vice chief of the Army on Monday.

Pension and other emoluments of Nanda, who retired on October 31, will not be affected by the administrative action taken against him. Future promotions of Pasricha, who is still serving, however, are likely to be adversely impacted.

-via The Times of India and Deccan Herald