Coimbatore City police seek custody of rape accused IAF officer

Chennai, Oct 8 (IANS) The Coimbatore City police have approached the District Court against the order of an additional Mahila Court allowing a rape accused IAF officer to be in the custody of the Air Force. The police have already filed a petition before the District Court, Coimbatore on October 7, police sources said.

The IAF officer, a First Lieutenant, was arrested on a complaint filed by a woman IAF officer, who was his colleague. According to the complainant, the IAF officer trespassed into her room on September 10 at night and committed the offence while she was under medication following an injury.

Police are of the opinion that while the additional Mahila court had handed over the custody of the accused IAF officer to the Air Force, the case has not been transferred to IAF and that the woman's police station, Coimbatore is still investigating the case.

A senior officer with the Coimbatore City police while speaking to IANS said, "The IAF has still not formed a Court-martial even though its plea before the additional Mahila court was for a court-martial. The police are yet to file a charge sheet and the police contention is that it is premature to give the accused to IAF custody."

In a related development, a woman IAF officer, who is a witness in the case, has already deposed before the Additional Mahila Court Magistrate on October 7. She is a batchmate of the victim and is a witness in the case.

The victim had in the complaint stated that she had a wound while playing a game and had taken a pain killer. In the evening at the Air Force officers' mess, she took a couple of drinks with her batchmates and vomited. She stated that she was taken to her room by her batchmates and latched the lock from outside. In the early hours of September 10, she felt that she was being abused, but that she was too weak to rise up and object and that she had tried to kick the accused out, but to no avail, the complaint said.