Srinagar, Sep 14: The court set two solvent sureties from the petitioner for Rs 50,000 each and a personal bond of like amount. The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has granted anticipatory bail to a Wing Commander of the Indian Air Force who was booked on charges of rape by the Jammu and Kashmir Police.
An FIR was filed against the officer at Budgam police station on Sunday in connection with the incident that is alleged to have taken place on January 1.
On Thursday, the High Court permitted the investigation to continue, but directed that a chargesheet should not be filed without the court’s permission. It said that “in case of his arrest, his reputation as well as service career shall be jeopardised”.
The court set two solvent sureties from the petitioner for Rs 50,000 each and a personal bond of like amount. Additionally, the court said the officer should not leave J&K without the permission of his Commanding Officer and that he should not contact any of the prosecution witnesses “either physically or through any other mode”.
The FIR against him was filed under Section 376 (2) of the Indian Penal Code, which was in force at the time of the alleged incident. The section deals with rape committed by a member of the Armed Forces deployed in an area by the central or a state government.
A woman officer posted at the same station as the Wing Commander alleged “continuous harassment, sexual assault, and mental torture” at the Air Force Station, Srinagar.
In her complaint, which is part of the FIR, the woman officer alleged that she was forced to perform a sexual act on him after a New Year’s party held at the Officers’ Mess at the Air Force Station on December 31, 2023.
She alleged that the sexual assault took place in a room at around 2 am on January 1 after the Wing Commander asked her to come to a room to receive a New Year gift.–(The Indian Express)
