Coimbatore: Air Force Lieutenant Amitesh Harmukh, who was accused of rape of a female officer, was handed over to IAF officials by the police here on Friday.
The incident happened during a training here at Indian Air Force Training College (IAFC), which operates in the Customs area. As many as 30 officers from across the country had arrived here on September 15 to undergo the training at IAFC.
On September 20, a female officer who was undergoing training, lodged a complaint with the Coimbatore Gandhipuram Women's Police Station alleging that she had been sexually abused by a fellow Air Force lieutenant Amitesh Harmuk, who was also undergoing training.
In the FIR, the woman IAF officer had alleged that she was raped on September 9. She added that she had an ankle injury on September 9 and was taking rest. In the evening she went to the Officers Mess Bar and had two drinks with one male officer and another woman officer, her course mates. She said that she vomited in between and her companions took her to the room and they latched the room from outside and left.
Later, according to her, the accused came to the room and tried to molest her but she could not resist due to her ankle injury. What she could recollect as the next thing was a female friend asking her whether the accused was in the room with her consent. The next morning, according to the FIR, she confronted the accused who expressed regret for having invaded her privacy but her female colleague pointed out semen in her bed. The woman officer then met two faculty members at the Air Force staff college on September 11.
The faculty members, according to the FIR gave her two options, either to file a complaint, or give a written statement that everything was consensual, and was directed to the Air Force hospital. In the FIR she said that the doctors at the Air Force hospital then subjected her to two-finger test, which was illegal and unethical, and questioned her sexual history.
Coimbatore Police had arrested Amitesh on September 25. Meanwhile, IAF authorities moved the court seeking his custody for further inquiry and court martial stating that the local police had no jurisdiction to investigate and arrest him, with the issue being a defence matter.
When the case came up for hearing on Friday, after hearing the arguments from both sides, judge Thilageshwari directed the city police to hand over the case to the IAF for the court martial of the accused officer. Hence, the police handed over Harmukh to IAF officials.
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