Woman is in ‘isolation’ as her family, battling stigma of the episode, demands action against Gogoi’s driver.
New Delhi: The Kashmiri woman at the heart of the controversial case involving Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi is now living with “strict” maternal uncles and has not returned home since the incident.
On Monday, Gogoi, the officer who had tied a civilian to a jeep in the ‘human shield’ row, was found guilty of breaking Army rules for going with the woman to a Srinagar hotel on 23 May. He could now face a court martial.
A source close to 20-year-old woman’s family told ThePrint that they also stopped her from reappearing for her Class 10 examinations that she had failed in 2013.
“She has not come home since that day (of the incident). She has almost been isolated and sent away to her maternal uncles. Her family does not want anyone to speak to her. The father, a daily wager, believes his daughter is too young to be married right now,” the source said.
Also read: Major Gogoi to face disciplinary action for meeting a woman at Srinagar hotel
With Gogoi under the scanner, the woman’s parents have demanded action against Sameer Ahmed Malla, the local Army man who had driven the Major to Srinagar.
There has been no word on Sameer from the Army.
“The family wants Sameer to be punished. They are blaming him for involving their daughter in this,” the source said.
According to the source, Sameer had brought Gogoi to the woman’s house in Check Kawoosa village, which doesn’t fall under the Major’s area of operation, twice.
“Gogoi asked the family if anyone was troubling them, like a big brother. The mother also recounted that on seeing them at her house in the night, she fainted once,” the source said.
The family of six — the woman, her parents and three brothers — had been living in a tin shanty post the September 2014 Kashmir floods. “They had no finances and even after the compensation was given, they had to sell a piece of land to start work on building a new home,” said the source.
The woman, the source said, also ran a “self-help group” as she is a skilled handicraft artisan. “She would do needlework on crafts. She raised the money and set up the self-help group which employed other girls,” the source said. It is not known whether anyone was behind the self-help group.
Fracas in a hotel
Major Gogoi of the 53 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) was briefly detained on 23 May after a fracas at the Hotel Grand Mamta in Srinagar. An altercation ensued after staff at the hotel prevented the Major from taking the Kashmiri woman to the room he had booked online.
Gogoi, who was posted at Beerwa in Central Kashmir’s Budgam, was questioned at a police station in Srinagar. The woman later said she had gone with the Army officer on her own. The two had apparently become friends on Facebook.
On Monday, however, a Court of Inquiry (CoI) headed by a brigadier prima facie found Gogoi guilty of “fraternising with a local” and being away from the place of duty while in an operational area.
Also read: Why an Indian Army Major can’t just meet a woman at a hotel anywhere
Sameer under scanner
With Gogoi’s indictment, the bone of contention remains Sameer, who drove Gogoi to the hotel. According to the sources, Sameer was the cause of the altercation. After Gogoi was refused the room by the hotel staff, he reportedly went out to inform Sameer, who then started a confrontation at the reception.
Local human rights activist Mohammad Ahsan Untoo has filed a plea in the matter in the court of the chief judicial magistrate, Srinagar, seeking re-investigation in the case. He says he wants Sameer investigated as he fears more Kashmiri women may be engaged in such activity.
“We are not satisfied. Our sentiments are hurt. The girl has accepted that she went with him on her own but we are curious to know what happened to the local army man Sameer. I feel the entire issue has been diluted,” Untoo told ThePrint.
Is it established that Gogoi was looking for sexual favours ?? He might be looking for some work-related information ….
India should not demoralise their brave hearts. Trivial issues blown out of proportion. Warning in the matter would suffice.
इस केस में मेजर गोगोई को किस लिए दोषी ठहराया जा रहा है…. क्या लड़की या उसके परिजनों ने मेजर गोगोई के खिलाफ कोई शिकायत दर्ज करवाई है….
अगर लड़की या उसके परिवार की तरफ से कोई शिकायत ही दर्ज नहीं है तो फिर मेजर गोगोई को टारगेट क्यों बनाया जा रहा है….
यह लोकल कश्मीरी पुलिस द्वारा रची गई एक साजिश है सेना को बदनाम करने के लिए….
Thats what Army is famous for..shooting itself in the foot..when Gogoi was already under the limelight..why was he not posted out within 1-2 months from that area..knowing very well that he will be targeted by hook and crook
Karma is a b***h!
He had it coming after the human shield incident.
yes Army shd strictly monitor such incdents shd not occure in future..exemplry punishment shd b given to Gogoi the womaniser…!!!
Army is carrying out very tough task of fighting against terrorist they need to be shielded from such demoralising incident. They are also human.
How foolish your comments.. You should think a girl may be in situation like major will kill her brother if she doesn’t cooperative in his willingness…
At the time of the incident it was emphasised that the girl was a minor. Now we are informed that she is twenty. She has given a statement that she had willingly accompanied the Major. The matter should have ended here. Ok ?
But wait ! I live in the heart of India. I have witnessed how a mere police constable was sort of intimidating a poor girl for sexual favours. One day whilst on my way home from my sugarcane fields i happened upon this scene. At a lonely spot a constable posted to the locality was seemingly in conversation with this poor young woman. But he was holding her hand and the woman was clearly terrified . I stopped there instinctively. The policeman pretended not to have seen me. He asked the woman while surreptiously caressing her hand, “These bangles are so nice. Where did you get them ?” The woman was visibly petrified(here the poor people are mortally afraid of being harassed by the police), but she couldn’t gather the courage to resist his advances, despite my presence. As i kept staring at him, at last the policeman recognized my presence and let her go.
Now imagine the situation at the border state where the Armymen have power over life and death. Add to that Gogoi’s formidable reputation of binding a stone pelter to the fender of his jeep. He could shoot and kill their entire family at will. Now I am starting to believe what most Kashmir is are saying, that many Armymen are committing rape on the hapless local women. This is totally unacceptable. But I am happy that the Army is going to court martial this unworthy Major Gogoi who has brought bad name to all his hard working colleagues in the Army.
Had Major Gogoi been a civilian, there would have been no case to pursue. If the girl is a major, there was no element of coercion involved, she has nothing more to add to the court martial proceedings. Her family should help her in putting this matter behind them. 2. Major Gogoi, at the very least, ought to have been posted out of the Valley after the human shield event.