So far, politicians have been in news due to various reasons…sometimes for rape, sometimes for scams, violence and many other illegal activities that made us think why we voted such people to power. Nevertheless, these things are becoming more and more common and don’t surprise us too often. However, when something involving our armed forces comes to fore, it not only surprises us but also, again, makes us think that if people who are entrusted with responsibility to maintain (read save for army) law and protect people will start working against it, what the society will finally end up in. Now you might surely be thinking why I am saying this thing. Well, if you are interested to know, read the following lines.
The wife of a lieutenant in the Indian Navy accuses him for forcing her into wife-swapping parties at the naval base in Cochin, says a recent report. As per the complaint lodged by the woman, a few other senior officers as well as their wives were also involved in the incident. Eight commissioned officers, their spouses, and a commodore have been arrested until now.
The controversy started when the wife of the alleged junior commissioned officer filed a complaint to the Cochin police a few days ago. She also expressed her grievance to the Naval Chief of Staff about how a number of senior naval officers had abused her sexually and how her husband has supported it.
According to her, both her husband and his family were unhappy with her after marriage, as her family did not agree to pay additional money as dowry. They started harassing her every now and then claiming more cash. After a few days, the lieutenant started pressurizing her to have sex with his colleagues. Her husband had taken her to several naval arties as well as social functions where other senior officers sexually abused her. Everything had happened with strong support from her husband. Moreover, the wives of some of those fellow officers also forced her to do that and tried to stop her from lodging complaint to police afterwards, she accused.
The representatives of the Indian Navy have firmly disagreed with the claims made by the woman. One of their spokespersons, Commander P.V.S Satish, has not only denied the allegations made by her but also called them baseless. As per his saying, there had been certain domestic issues between the woman and her husband, and no other officers or their spouses are involved in the affair. Rather, some senior commissioned officers and their wives simply tried to mediate between the couple, and that is the only reason lying behind the involvement of other professionals in it.
“We function as a community in the armed forces. There was some interaction and attempts to mediate the domestic discord. Unfortunately, the individual has gone ahead and implicated everybody who has tried to mediate between the couple, be it the men or the women. Wife swapping is a bit of an extrapolation”, Satish said.
However, this is not the first time the names of some senior-level officers at the Indian Navy are dragged into the scandal. In fact, it is the most recent addition to a series of such incidents that had been happening in the department since last few years. All those are enough to make professionals associated with it ashamed. The case has been taken care of by the Cochin Police and investigation is currently on.
