"Will Jeopardise Reputation”: Rape Accused IAF Officer Gets Pre-Arrest Bail

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Friday granted pre-arrest bail to an Indian Air Force (IAF) wing commander accused of rape by a female flying officer. The decision comes after the Jammu and Kashmir Police registered an FIR based on the complaint filed by the officer who accused her senior of mental harassment, sexual assault, and stalking for two years.

“As the petitioner who is serving as Wing Commander… and in case of his arrest, his reputation as well as the service career shall be jeopardised,” the bail order read, as per India Today.

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The court asked the police to continue the investigation but added that no chargesheet be filed without the permission of the high court.

The single-bench judge ordered the Union Territory administrator’s Additional Advocate General to file a status report by the next date of hearing. It also instructed that the accused Wing Commander be released on bail if he is arrested.

Additionally, the bail conditions require the accused to pay Rs 50,000 surety, remain in Jammu and Kashmir unless allowed otherwise by his commanding officer. The accused has been asked by the court to meet the investigating officer from September 14 to 16 and whenever further assistance is required.

In her complaint, the 26-year-old flying officer filed an FIR at the Budgam police station in Jammu and Kashmir. She alleged that her senior forced her into oral sex and molested her. She claimed that she had been discouraged to report, but after reaching out to two other female officers who helped her, she filed an official complaint.

A Colonel-rank officer was ordered to investigate. The woman was made to sit down with the Wing Commander twice in January to record the statements, she alleged. She said she objected to the senior officer’s presence. The investigation was eventually closed to “hide mistakes of administration,” she alleged, forcing her to file a fresh application to the internal committee, which met two months later. She added that a medical examination was not done till she insisted multiple times. The internal committee stated that due to lack of eyewitness, it was inconclusive whether the incident actually happened or not, she claimed.

“Isn’t it common sense that someone would not do sexual assault in front of a witness? The bias of Stn (Station) authorities to aid the sexual offender was very heartbreaking for me,” she said.

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Since then, the flying officer claimed that her personal communications were being constantly monitored unofficially; the people she spoke to are harassed by the authorities while she is forced to socialise and attend events with the accused and the officials, she alleged. Her requests for interim relief and leave have been denied multiple times, along with requests for different postings for herself or the accused wing commander, she further claimed.

“The harassment has driven me to suicidal thoughts, and I feel utterly helpless. I am unable to carry on with my daily life, and my social interactions are closely monitored and discouraged by authorities. I have endured this torture for too long, and I am at my breaking point,” she said.