Indian Navy denies allegations of sexual harassment against officers

Kochi: A Naval officer’s wife has lodged a complaint with the police here alleging that she had been harassed by her husband, his family members and some of the officers of the Southern Naval Command here. According to Harbour Police here today, a case had been registered against 10 persons, including the woman’s husband, under section 498 of the IPC based on the complaint filed by the woman on April 4. The Kerala High Court had sought a statement of the facts of the case on a bail application filed by the accused, police sources said. [caption id=“attachment_694626” align=“alignleft” width=“300”]  Representational picture. Reuters[/caption] A Defence spokesperson, however, rejected the allegation holding it (the complaint) was the result of “a marital discord” and the allegations raised by the woman against “superior officers” were “unfair.” “A marital discord between a serving officer and his spouse has resulted in the spouse of the Officer lodging an FIR with the local Police here….  However, in this 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,” a Defence release said. These officers, accompanied by their respective spouses, had only tried to unsuccessfully resolve the issues of the couple’s personal life, it said. “Unfortunately the lady had resorted to such methods of dragging her estranged spouse’s colleagues into the vortex of their unhappy relationship,” the release said. The Navy, however, would cooperate with the law enforcement agencies to ensure speedy completion of investigation “to clear the name of the officers who intervened in the line of duty to resolve the domestic discord of a young officer,” the release added. The woman told a Malayalam TV channel that she had been allegedly harassed by her husband, senior officers and their wives and that was why she approached the police with her complaint. “They caught my hair and they beat me. This happened last month. My life was in threat,” she alleged. She said the Kerala police began the investigation the very first day she lodged the complaint but she was under pressure to withdraw it. PTI