New Delhi: A flying officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF) has accused her superior, a wing commander, of sexual assault and continuous harassment at the station in Srinagar. Budgam Police have registered an FIR on her complaint.
In her complaint, she also accused the IAF of not treating her internal complaints seriously and said the force was unwilling to conduct a medical examination despite her complaints about the alleged assault. She added that a medical examination was finally done by the IAF after multiple requests.
In the FIR, the officer alleged “continuous harassment, sexual assault and mental torture” for the last two years, police sources said.
According to the complaint, the incident took place on 31 December 2023 during the New Year’s party at the officers’ mess, sources added.
The flying officer alleged that the wing commander took her to his room on the pretext of handing her a gift, saying that was where all the gifts were kept.
The senior officer allegedly sexually assaulted her in his room, before she could push him away and run out. The woman said she had also repeatedly requested him to stop.
The flying officer also said she went into “mental shock” as she was new to the “atmosphere in the forces”. She added in her complaint that she was “embarrassed” and “broken” to an extent that she lacked the courage to report the incident.
The woman also alleged that senior IAF officers did not take her seriously after she reported the incident to them. She said it took two months for the station to assemble an Internal Committee (IC), adding a medical test was not undertaken though she insisted multiple times.
IAF officials told ThePrint that the force was aware of the case and that it had been approached by the local police. They added that the IAF was cooperating fully.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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