DIBRUGARH, March 28 – A Subedar of the 28 Punjab Regiment, one Sukhwinder Singh, has brought a bad name to his unit as well as the Army as a whole. On Wednesday night, he allegedly tried to molest a lady from Calcutta who was staying at the city’s posh Little Palace Hotel. The lady, an engineer with a prominent steel making company, is these days in the city alongwith her husband. Last night, an Army team searched the hotel rooms, supposedly looking out for ULFA militants. This was around 8-45 pm.
About an hour later, the said Subedar (a Subedar is a junior commissioned officer, or JCO) again knocked on the door of room number 119, where the couple was staying. He asked the husband to go out of the room while he “checked the antecedents” of his wife. This is where the trouble began. The lady was escorted to the attached bathroom, where the Army man tried to molest her.
The lady, Enakshi Kapoor, has lodged an FIR at the Sadar police station here, where a criminal case has been registered. Meanwhile, the police shifted the couple from the Little Palace Hotel to Hotel Natraj, and have provided them with security guards. She is reported to have told the police that unless her complaint is taken seriously and the culprit is not booked, she would go to the Governor of Assam with her grievance.
With the Supreme Court too taking a tough stand on any crime against women, the police are investigating the matter and is trying to trace out the Army man who has been named by the complainant.
On Wednesday, about 200 women from the Naharkatia Sasoni area have petitioned the DC here, alleging “unnecessary and untold harassment meted out to them by the Army.” All in the name of flushing out militants. Allegations of excesses against the security forces have emerged after a gap of several years. The earlier Army battalions posted to the Dibrugarh district did much to endear themselves to the local population, and this went a long way in developing goodwill between the security forces and the civil population. The women who petitioned the DC here yesterday have also demanded that the present Army column be replaced to prevent any unpleasant developments.