New Delhi: A young Army jawan allegedly
sodomised by a senior colleague four years back and
subsequently sent out of service for being "medically unfit"
today got relief from the Armed Forces Tribunal which pulled
up his Regiment for covering up the incident.
The Tribunal ordered the Army to conduct a fresh
clinical examination of Mukesh Kumar within three months and
pay him disability pension if he was found medically unfit.
It also directed the Army to get the medical test done
by a doctor other than the one who had previously performed it
and opined that his bad physical condition was not due to
military service.
Kumar was enrolled in Rajputana Rifles Regimental Centre
here and three months after joining Army, he was allegedly
sexually assaulted by his instructor at night, according to
his petition filed through Colonel S R Kalkal.
He filed a complaint with Army from the Base Hospital
where he was being treated following which a Court of Inquiry
(COI) was ordered which found the charges to be true.
To save the prestige of the unit and the Army, the
guilty Havaldar was asked to leave the Service without any
punishment, said the petition.
Agreeing with his contention, the two-member Bench
headed by Justice A K Mathur, said the Regimental authorities
covered up the incident to save the prestige of the unit.
PTI
