Recently an alleged rape case of a woman at the Indian Air Force (IAF) College in Redfields, Coimbatore, came to light, and a flight lieutenant identified as Amitesh was arrested on September 26. The woman officer has stated that she was subjected to a Two Finger test by the IAF medical officers.
Officer stated illegal two finger test conducted on her
In the complaint, she said that the two finger test which is an illegal preliminary and a unscientific examination of rape victims was conducted on her. The woman officer also stated that the officers of the IAF who were aware of the incident, forced or influenced her to not file the complaint.
This clearly shows the lack of empathy of the IAF and conducting an illegal two finger test which was a violation of human rights and dignity of a woman, the complaint states.
About the incident
In the FIR, the woman officer alleged that she sustained an injury on the evening of September 9, 2021, due to which she was given a painkiller and took a rest and in the evening went to the Officers Mess Bar and had two drinks with her course-mates.
She said that she was with one male officer and another woman officer. And when she vomited in between, her course mates took her to the room and put her to bed.
Later according to her version in the FIR, the accused Amitesh, allegedly came to her room and tried to wake her up several times and kissed her and she tried to resist and pushed him away but could not do so due to her ankle injury.
According to the complaint she remembered that she was woken up the next day by one of her female friends who asked her if the accused was in the room with her consent. The friend then suspected that he had sexually assaulted the woman officer based on what she saw. The next morning she confronted the accused who expressed regret for having invaded her privacy and said she could take “any action against him” if she wanted to.
Senior officers discouraged her to withdraw the complaint
Then on September 11, The woman officer approached the senior faculty members at the Air Force staff college over the issue. But according to the FIR, the faculty members 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. One of the faculty members was a women Wing Commanders who said that she should think about her family and their reputation.
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. The two-finger test was banned by the Supreme Court eight years ago, though it has often been reported that the practice continues.
The woman officer, in the FIR, alleged that senior officers including those in charge of administration were pressuring her to withdraw her complaint.
Complaint filed and accused arrested
She later filed a complaint at the All Women Police Station (AWPS) at Coimbatore on September 20 and the accused, and then the accused Amitesh was arrested.
When he was produced before the Mahila Court in Coimbatore, the Air Force requested to hand over the case to them, but as the victim and police objected to it, his judicial custody was extended till September 30.
The woman said that she did not know that the Two Finger test was banned by the Supreme court of India in 2013 and said that the test made her nauseous to relive the trauma, according to the FIR.
