The city police booked four army jawans late on Tuesday for allegedly raping a speech and hearing impaired woman for over four years at a military hospital here.
A case under sections 376 (rape) and 354 (molestation) of the IPC has been registered by the police based on a complaint by the victim. The woman, in her 30s, works as a Grade IV employee at the hospital.
“The accused took advantage of her condition and committed sexual assault. When she reported the crime to her colleague, instead of acting on it he too molested her. They were joined by two other jawans in the heinous crime. Two of the accused made a clip of the act and blackmailed the victim,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police Kalyanrao Vidhate.
Besides the case registered by the police, a complaint has been sent to the Defence Minister and the Army Chief of Staff. The Station Headquarters at Kirkee has initiated a court of inquiry against the jawans.
The woman approached an Indore-based NGO that worked with speech and hearing impaired people in July this year. The NGO took her statement through a sign-language expert, who escorted the victim and submitted a complaint to the commandant of the military hospital.
The woman says in the FIR that she started working at the hospital in July 2014. She was first molested by one of the jawans during her night shift in the bathroom of a family ward. She reported the incident to her immediate superior, a nursing assistant, through a text message.
However, the assistant, also a jawan, joined hands with the accused and demanded sexual favours from her. They, in turn, were joined by two more jawans, who mercilessly raped the victim for over four years, says the complaint.
