New Delhi:

Retired Army Chief General VK Singh and former CBI Director M Nageswara Rao have clashed over the alleged torture and sexual assault of an Army officer’s fiancee at a police station in Odisha. The incident took place in Bhubaneswar on the night of September 15 and has sparked widespread outrage.

General VK Singh, in a social media post, described the treatment of the woman, the fiancee of an Army officer, as “shameful and horrendous.” General Singh condemned the handling of the situation by the Odisha Police and demanded immediate action against the officers involved.

“Everyone must listen to the daughter of a retired Army officer. What happened to her in Bharatpur police station in Odisha is shameful. The Odisha Chief Minister should take swift action against the police personnel and those shielding the criminals in uniform,” General Singh stated in his post.

According to the victim’s account, she was allegedly thrashed and sexually assaulted inside Bharatpur police station after she and her fiance attempted to file a complaint regarding a road rage incident. The Army officer was allegedly illegally detained by the police.

In a counter-response, former CBI Director M Nageswara Rao, an Odisha-cadre IPS officer, painted a different picture. Mr Rao disputed General Singh’s allegations and accused the Army officer and his fiancee of being drunk and behaving inappropriately.

“An Army officer and his fiancee consumed alcohol and drove through the city late at night. They were involved in a brawl with engineering students and later created a scene at Bharatpur police station. When asked to undergo a medical examination and blood test, they refused, which is a standard part of the investigation,” Mr Rao claimed. 

He further defended the police, stating that the Odisha Police, which manages more than 600 police stations, had no reason to misbehave with visitors, including Army personnel. Mr Rao urged General Singh to reconsider his stance, adding that it is improper to castigate the police for the actions of an individual Army officer.

“It is not appropriate for a former Chief of Army Staff and Central Minister to jump to conclusions and criticize the police for the alleged drunken misconduct of the Army officer and his fiancee. However, I would not question the Indian Army’s discipline based on one individual’s actions. I urge the Army to take appropriate action against this officer for conduct unbecoming of a soldier,” Mr Rao concluded.

In the midst of these allegations, videos showing the couple in a physical altercation with a group of people surfaced on social media. 
While the Army veterans have rallied around the officer and his fiancee, retired police officers, including Mr Rao, have defended the actions of the Odisha Police and have raised questions about the behaviour of the couple.

Several retired Army officers have taken to social media to criticise the Odisha Police, urging the Defence Ministry to intervene.

The Odisha government has responded by suspending five police personnel involved in the incident and ordering a judicial inquiry. The state’s crime branch is investigating the allegations, and the government has provided security to the Army officer and his fiancee in light of the case.

Following a meeting with Odisha’s Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, the woman expressed relief and hope for justice, stating that she feared for her safety given the nature of the allegations. She also confirmed that both she and her fiance had accepted the government’s offer of personal security officers (PSOs) for their protection.

A day after it came to light that the friend of an Army officer was sexually harassed at a police station in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar when she and the officer went to file a complaint about an attack on them by a few men, videos of the alleged manhandling have emerged.

The videos, which were accessed by NDTV on Saturday but whose authenticity has not been independently verified, show the woman and the officer being surrounded by some men, who are seen arguing with them and then pushing them while hurling abuses. The assault took place around 1 am on Sunday when the woman and the officer, who is attached to the 22 Sikh Regiment in Kolkata, were returning to their hotel in Bhubaneswar after closing her restaurant for the day. 

In the footage, which appears to be shot on a cellphone, the woman is seen speaking to a man and is heard saying that some of the people surrounding her had tried to misbehave with her. 

“Sir, I am not speaking with you, I am speaking with the people who are trying to misbehave with me. They are… It is my car, whether I show my legs or my hair, it is my prerogative,” she says in Hindi. 

A man in the group interjects and says, “Don’t show it to us, then.” When the woman asks, “Who are you?” another man takes the name of a politician and asks whether she has heard of him. When she says she hasn’t, another man shouts, “The Prime Minister of Odisha”. 

As the argument escalates, the Army officer holds the woman’s hands and tries to take her away, but the men follow, shouting, “This is not Delhi.” The men then push the officer and ask him to “explain things” to her.

The argument continues and the men accuse the woman of playing the “victim card” and tell her not to “show overconfidence”.

The officer takes the woman to their car and in the next video, she is seen standing with the front door open when one of the men slams it. The men hurl abuses and hit the officer who tries to shield the woman. She and the officer are then separated and manhandled. The video ends with the officer and the woman walking towards the car when she says she will go to the police. A man is heard saying, “Arre ja” (go ahead). 

From Bad To Worse

The ordeal from the woman and the officer was just beginning, however. She told reporters on Friday that when they reached the Bharatpur police station in Bhubaneswar some time later, only a woman constable in civil dress was present and she refused to help them. 

The constable abused them and, in the meantime, a few policemen arrived and asked the officer to give a written statement, before locking him up in a cell. 

“I don’t know what happened… they put him in the lock-up. When I raised my voice to say they cannot put an Army officer in custody as it is unlawful, two female officers assaulted me,” she said, adding that her jacket was used to bind her arms and she was left in a room. 

“After some time, a male officer opened the doors and kicked my breasts several times,” she said, alleging he also took off his pants and then hers, while the officer in charge of the police station made obscene gestures.

Police officials at the station have, however,  alleged that the woman and the Army officer assaulted a police officer while drunk and vandalised property there. The woman was arrested and granted bail by the Odisha High Court earlier this week. 

The Odisha Police headquarters said five cops, including an Inspector-rank officer, have been suspended for “gross misconduct” and an inquiry is being conducted. Officials from another police station are now investigating the assault on the woman and the Army officer before they reached the Bharatpur police station. 

Former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik has called for a judicial probe into the assault at the police station.

“Regarding the violence that was meted out to both of them and the alleged sexual assault on the major’s fiancee, we demand a full judicial inquiry into this matter, and action must be taken very quickly,” he said.