The alleged incident happened on February 5 when the accused took the survivor on a late night drive.
A shocking incident of sexual assault has come to light in Bengaluru. A woman officer in the army has accused her colleague, a Major, of raping her in a car.
The accused allegedly asked the survivor to come with him for a drive after they attended a party together, and sexually assaulted her in the vehicle midway.
An FIR has been filed in the Halasuru police station against the accused, Major Amit Choudhary, under sections 376 (rape) and 323 (assault) of the Indian Penal Code. However, Major Amit was granted interim bail till March 21 by a local court.
Rahul Kumar, Deputy Police Commissioner (East) told TNM, “We will take all necessary steps and finish the investigations at the earliest. If the investigation officer feels that the accused needs to be arrested later, he will be.”
A defence spokesperson told TNM that apart from the police case, the army is conducting a court of inquiry into the incident as well.
According to the complaint, the survivor was sexually assaulted on the night of February 4 after she and the accused attended a party hosted by a Brigadier in the Bengaluru ASC Centre at HAL Old Airport Road. She alleged that she was raped by Amit when she agreed to go on a drive after the party.
“Both the complainant and the accused had attended the party. After that, both of them had returned to their respective residences. The accused then approached the complainant to go for a drive to which the complainant accepted. At around 11.50 pm, the accused and the complainant returned to the ASC Centre and went for the drive. Midway he stopped and raped her inside the car, she said,” an officer attached to the Halasuru police station told TNM.
Police said that they were first informed about the incident on February 5 when the survivor had gone to the Command Hospital and the staff there informed them. “At this time, she told us that she is thinking about whether to give a complaint or not,” a police official said.
The survivor filed a complaint with the Vivek Nagar police on February 16. However, the case was transferred to Halasuru police on Wednesday as the alleged crime happened within their jurisdiction. This delayed the investigation in the case, due to which the accused could not be prevented from getting bail, a senior police official said.
“We are now waiting for the accused to come to the police station, we have served him a notice,” the officer attached to Halasuru Police Station.
“The police have gathered all the evidence including seizing the car. The complainant has undergone medical examination as well and the evidence material has been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory. We are awaiting the report. We have also acquired the CCTV footage of the ASC Centre,” the officer added.
Since both the accused and the victim are under the Army Act, the Army will itself decide whether the case will be tried by the Civil Court or an Army Court Marital.
