Air Force squadron commander arrested for rape after young officer filed complaint

Jammu and Kashmir police have arrested an Indian Air Force wing commander for the alleged rape of a young officer in January.

Both officers are stationed at the Srinagar Air Force Base.

The squadron commander was charged with rape by a member of the armed forces under a section of the Indian Penal Code.

The plaintiff alleges that the squadron commander sexually harassed her following a New Year's Eve party held in the station's officers' mess in the early hours of January 1.

She also claimed that she had been subjected to “continuous harassment, sexual assault and psychological torture” by the air base authorities over the past two years.

“I was mentally shocked because I was not familiar with the atmosphere in the armed forces,” she said in her complaint. “I was so ashamed and devastated that I lacked the courage to file a complaint. I cannot describe the mental anguish I experienced as an unmarried girl who joined the armed forces and was treated in such a heinous manner.”

The complainant said she was in a dilemma about whether to report the sexual assault but eventually “decided to fight.” However, she accused senior officers at the station of not taking her complaint seriously.

“It took two months for the station to put together an internal committee… on April 2, 2024, the internal committee met,” she said. “The bias of the station authorities to help the sex offenders was very heartbreaking to me.”

She said that a medical examination was only carried out after she insisted on it several times. She claimed that the internal committee also failed to summon a witness who “had to run away from the camp premises before he could give his testimony.”

According to the complainant, the Internal Committee closed the investigation on 15 May, stating that it was “inconclusive whether the incident took place or not”, citing the lack of witnesses.