Army denies Assam rape charges, files counter FIR

The army on Tuesday denied that two soldiers had raped an eight-month pregnant woman in Assam, terming it an attempt to malign the image of the security forces.A

According to reports, an FIR was registered by the wife of an overground worker of militant group NDFB (S), at Kachugaon in Assam alleging that a few army personnel took her to a school building from her house and two of them raped her.

A statement issued by the army on Tuesday said the report was "factually erroneous, misleading, speculative and derogatory".

The statement also said that a counter FIR has been lodged by the army at Kachugaon Police Station on Aug 10.

"The insinuation in the reports are inaccurate and malicious," the statement said.

The statement said that based on specific intelligence about the presence of NDFB(S) overground workers, an army unit and the Assam Police had carried out a joint operation in the villages of Karigaon and Thaisaguri in Kokrajhar district of Assam on the morning of Aug 9.

"As the overground workers were not found, the operation was called off by 11 p.m. on Aug 9 and a clearance certificate was obtained from the police. No subsequent operation was launched by the army and no army personnel went to the village thereafter," the statement said.

The statement added that initial medical examination at Kokrajhar's RN Brahma Civil Hospital on Aug 10 of the woman who alleged the rape found "no injury marks or marks of violence and absence of spermatoza".

"Therefore, the complaint of alleged rape is totally false, fabricated, baseless and is an attempt to malign the image of the army. It is with the aim to disrupt the momentum of operations and divert the attention of the security forces from the anti-terrorist operations. Few people with vested interest have tried to politicise the issue," the statement said.