The Navy was on Tuesday rocked by yet another sex scandal, with an officer’s wife telling Union Defence Minister A K Antony that her husband had forced her to have sexual relations with his boss, resulting in a probe being ordered.
Senior officials in the Union Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Navy said the incident occurred barely hours after Antony had called for stringent action against moral turpitude in the Navy, while addressing the Naval Commanders biannual conference here.
The victim, whose husband is a Lieutenant Commander, met Antony at his South Block office to formally lodge her complaint. According to her, her husband was now posted at the Naval Ship Repair Yard (NSRY) in Karwar.
After leaving her husband, the woman moved in with her parents, who also accompanied her to the meeting with the Defence Minister.
The woman is said to have alleged that the officer also threatened her with dire consequences, including posting her nude pictures online to shame her, if she went public with her complaint. Following the meeting with the aggrieved woman, Antony asked the Navy to probe the complaint thoroughly and to fix the responsibility if the allegations were found to be true. “A Lieutenant Commander’s wife has complained to the Union Defence Minister and he has promised her and her family an investigation into the allegations,” an MoD official said.
Meanwhile, the officer, against whom the complaint was lodged, is all set to be sent to Russia to oversee the last phase of the repair and refit of the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov. This is the second such complaint from a Naval officer’s wife in as many months.
In April, another Lieutenant Commander’s wife had complained to the Kochi Police about the sexual harassment by her husband and his seniors at the Naval base INS Venduruthy. The woman said that her marine commando husband had forced her to have an affair with his senior officers. She had also claimed that he too was having an affair with the wife of a senior officer.
The complaint had kicked up a storm, though the Navy had then dismissed it as a result of a marital discord between the officer and his wife. However, after the woman lodged a complaint a probe was ordered into the incident too. Earlier, addressing the Naval Commanders’ Conference here, Antony warned of the “sternest possible action” against those indulging in inappropriate behaviour as has been brought out by some recent incidents. “Referring to some isolated incidents of inappropriate behaviour by a few personnel, the Defence Minister urged the top Commanders to take the sternest possible action against those who tarnish the image and prestige of the Armed Forces, whenever such incidents come to their notice,” an MoD release said.
Last month, the Navy had dismissed two officers from the service for having an affair with a fellow officer’s wife and the other for sending lewd text messages to several women.