Army Officer, on the Run After Raping Friends’ Wife, Arrested

The Colonel allegedly raped his friend’s Russian wife after sedating the husband.

An anti-rape protest. Image used for representational purposes. 

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

An Army officer, who was on the run after intoxicating his civilian friend and raping his wife after at the Officers' Mess in Cantonment area, was arrested on Tuesday, 15 December.

The officer, in the rank of Colonel, posted at the Central Ordnance Depot (COD) in Kanpur, allegedly raped his friend's Russian wife of 10 years at the officer's mess in the Cantonment area after sedating the husband.

The incident took place on 10 December, but came to light when an FIR was lodged against the Colonel under section 376 (rape) and other relevant section of IPC following a complaint by the woman’s husband at the Cantonment police station on Saturday.

What Exactly Happened?

According to the woman's husband, his friend Neeraj Gehlot, who is Colonel in COD, invited him and his Russian wife for dinner at his place. He agreed and they reached Kanpur from Lucknow on 10 December.

The couple went to the Colonel’s official bungalow in COD where the latter offered him a drink laced with sedatives. Soon after consuming it, the husband lost consciousness. The Colonel then dragged his friend’s wife to another room and tried to force himself on her. After she resisted, he brutally assaulted her following which she fell unconscious.

The woman narrated her ordeal to her husband when he regained consciousness. The survivor’s husband accompanied her to the Cantonment police station on Sunday to file a complaint.

She was then sent for medical examination and was produced before a judicial magistrate who recorded her statement under section 164 of the CrPC

The Arrest

Gehlot was arrested while trying to flee to an unknown place, Superintendent of Police (East) Raj Kumar Agarwal was quoted by NDTV as saying.

The police reportedly traced Gehlot’s mobile location which was traced in the vicinity of officers’ mess on Monday evening.

A team headed by Chakeri police station's SHO Ravi Srivastava was dispatched to arrest the officer, but his room was found locked from outside, the ASP said.

After raping the woman, the colonel took leave from his bosses and went underground to evade arrest, said an official.

(With inputs from NDTV.)