A scandal has erupted at the Naval Base in Kochi, headquarters of the Southern Naval Command, with the Kochi Harbour Police registering cases against some senior Naval officials on a compliant of the wife of a lieutenant that he used to force her to go to bed with senior officials and that wife-swapping among senior officials was rampant at the base.
As per the complaint lodged by the woman, a native of Odisha who lived in Delhi before marriage, she was being harassed both physically and mentally by her husband, a lieutenant, his senior officials and their wives for questioning the immoral goings-on at the Naval Base. However, the Navy claimed that this was only a case of marital discord.
The Kochi Harbour Police have booked one Commodore, four lieutenants including the husband, three of his relatives, a Captain and his wife under sections of laws concerning domestic violence, attempted sexual abuse, coercion for sexual abuse, torture and unlawful custody. But the Navy termed her charges against the senior officers as “unfair”.
The lieutenant’s wife said that she was being harassed by him, his senior officials and even their wives for not subjecting herself to the sexual fancies of the seniors. “Some of the officials had tried to assault me sexually and it was these people who had cut my hair,” she said.
The woman, who had come to Kochi from New Delhi a year ago following her husband’s transfer here, said that the evening parties being held at the Naval Base regularly were venues for immoral interactions among the participants and that her husband used to force her to sleep with senior officials after such parties.
“They are swapping wives… I tried to complain about what happened to me but nobody listened.
The Navy is protecting them,” she said while talking to the media. The woman, who is presently staying with a friend in Kochi, is reportedly planning to approach the High Court as the police might have limitations in dealing with a case involving top Navy brass.
The husband, first accused as per the FIR, told the Harbour Police that his wife was having mental disturbances but he could not produce any evidence with regard to his claim. “After all, there seems to be some substance in the woman’s complaint,” said a police official. The husband and others have approached the High Court for anticipatory bail.
The Navy claimed that the woman was “dragging her ‘estranged’ husband’s colleagues - who had tried to resolve the issues dogging the couple’s personal life - into the vortex of their unhappy relationship.” A Naval release said on Wednesday that the force “will cooperate with the law enforcement agencies to ensure speedy completion of the investigation.”
“I once saw my husband with the wife of a Captain, his senior officer. When I tried to make an issue out of this, I was locked up in a room by my husband and the Captain’s wife,” the woman told the media.
She said she had contacted Defence Minister AK Antony’s house but was advised to lodge a complaint in the form a formal letter for which she neither had the convenience nor the time. Following this, she said, she tried to lodge a complaint directly with the Commander-in-Chief of Naval staff at the Naval Base but that attempt also was met with failure.