Army major dismissed, given five years’ jail for assaulting minor

A serving Major of the Indian Army has been cashiered from service and sentenced to five years’ rigorous imprisonment after being found guilty of sexual assault on a minor. In a rare case of conviction under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the court martial found him guilty in an incident that took place in January 2022.

The officer was posted at a unit in Delhi when a complaint was registered against him for sexual harassment of a minor daughter of a domestic help who was residing in the servants’ quarter. It was alleged that the child was called by the officer to study in his house and sexually assaulted.

The officer was charged on two accounts of violating the POCSO act as well as Section 59 of the Army Act after a Court of Inquiry found him guilty. The court martial proceedings took place at Ferozepur Cantonment and were led by a Colonel. The court included a lady officer as well.

“The court is of the opinion that the prosecution has been able to prove beyond reasonable doubt through cogent, reliable and circumstantial evidence that the accused is guilty of both the charges,” the court judgement reads.

The convicted officer’s lawyer, advocate Anand Kumar, says that the case was prejudiced and that evidence was tampered with. “The incident is of 12 January, 2022, but the complaint was filed on 24 January at HQ Delhi Area. There is no explanation for delay. The complaint copy was tampered with and bore no signature of any authority nor any stamp,” he said.He added that the order passed was “bad in the eyes of law and it suffers from incurable illegalities, bad reasoning and has resulted in the miscarriage of justice”. The cashiered officer will have the option of appealing against the verdict before the Armed Forces Tribunal.