MUMBAI (Web Desk) – The Supreme Court of India on Thursday directed the Kerala Police to set up a special investigation team (SIT) headed by a deputy inspector general to probe allegations of wife-swapping among Indian Navy officers.
The applicant, an ex-wife of Indian Naval officer, requested the court to probe the charges and asked the state police to complete the investigation, preferably within three months.
The bench was hearing a petition by an estranged wife of a Naval officer seeking a probe into her FIR alleging that besides her husband, four other Navy officers and the spouse of one of them indulged in wife-swapping, Indian Express reported.
In her petition, she sought transfer of petitions from Kerala to Delhi High Court, claiming the atmosphere was not conducive for the case to progress and reach its judicious end. She also contended that the accused naval officers were influential persons.
However, the court rejected her plea saying that mere apprehension may not be sufficient to transfer the case. It directed Kerala Legal Services Authority to appoint a senior advocate to pursue her case.
The woman, who had married the Navy officer on March 9, 2012, said that their relationship was not very cordial and that she was driven out almost a year later while her husband withheld her identity card, laptop, mobile phone and original marriage certificate.
Later, the woman lodged a complaint against her husband, her parents-in-law and sister-in-law alleging that they had subjected her to physical and mental cruelty. After that, she also levelled the charge of sexual abuse against five naval officers, including her husband, and wife of one of the naval officers, alleging that they indulged in wife-swapping.
“Wife swapping cases off and on occurred secretly in Navy but first time it has been reported in a large scale”, a former Navy officer Sushant Singh told BBC.
Earlier, a woman army officer who had taken part in the Republic Day parade last year to showcase ‘Nari Shakti’, filed a sexual harassment case against her commanding officer.
