Navy officer’s wife raises charges of sexual harassment

KOCHI: Following a complaint of sexual harassment from a Navy officer's wife, police on Wednesday registered a case against her husband and senior officers at the Southern Naval Command (SNC) here. The Navy, while clarifying that it will cooperate with the investigation, claimed that the woman in question had resorted to similar sweeping allegations in the past at other units where her husband had served.


On April 4, the woman approached Harbour police station alleging that her husband and his senior colleagues had beaten and sexually harassed her after tying her up. The complainant alleged that
she was also injected with a drug by the officers.

After a preliminary inquiry based on the complaint, the police registered cases against 10 Navy officers, including the woman's husband. "We have registered cases under Sections 498 and 354 against the accused. We will also invoke Section 376 after conducting a detailed probe," said Harbour police station sub inspector P K Sabu.

According to police, the 26-year-old woman, hailing from Odisha, got married to the officer in 2012 at Visakapatnam. They moved to Kochi in January after the officer was transferred to SNC. "Though her husband has claimed she is mentally sick, there are no medical records to prove this. As per our assessment, the woman is mentally sound and she is preparing for the civil service examination," said Sabu.

SNC pointed out that senior officers had intervened because, in keeping with the Navy's esprit de corps, it was in their line of duty to try and resolve domestic discord in a junior colleague's life.

"In the specific case, the wife of the officer has levelled unfair allegations against superior officers in her husband's chain of command, their spouses and other officers who have interacted with her. These officers accompanied by their respective spouses had tried unsuccessfully to resolve the issues dogging the couple's personal life," the Navy's press release said.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/Navy-officers-wife-raises-charges-of-sexual-harassment/articleshow/19487576.cms