Four army jawans were booked by the Khadki police late on Tuesday for allegedly raping a speech and hearing impaired woman for over four years at the Military Hospital in Pune. Sources said that two among the four accused are from the Army Medical Corps and were pursuing courses at the hospital.

The Khadki police registered a case under Sections 376 (rape) and 354 (molestation) of the Indian Penal Code after the victim, a Grade IV employee at the hospital, filed a complaint.

Raped by colleagues

Kalyanrao Vidhate, Assistant Commissioner of Police, said, “The accused took advantage of her impairment and sexually assaulted her. When she complained to her colleague, he also molested her instead of helping her. Two other jawans also went on to rape her. Two of the accused also made a video clip of the act and threatened to blackmail the victim.”

While a complaint has been sent to the Defence Minister and the Army Chief of Staff, a court of inquiry has been initiated against the jawans by the Station Headquarters at Kirkee.

In July this year, the woman finally approached an NGO based in Indore that worked with speech and hearing impaired people. The NGO took her statement with the help of a sign language expert, who escorted the victim, and submitted a complaint to the commandant of the Military Hospital.

In the FIR, the woman stated that she started working at the hospital in July 2014. She said during a night shift, one of the jawans molested her in the bathroom of the hospital’s family ward.

The woman states in the FIR that she sent a text message to her superior, a nursing assistant, informing him about the incident. However, instead of addressing her grievance, the jawan teamed up with the accused and started demanding sexual favours from the woman. According to the complainant, two more jawans raped her over four years.

The police said that despite repeated requests, the hospital authorities refused to move her to the day shift. The complainant, who is in her 30s, is a widow and has a teenage son.