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Indian Army launches probe into forces sexual abuse during duty in Congo
Indian Army has launched a court of inquiry against 12 officers and 39 soldiers allegedly involved in cases of sexual abuse while they were deployed as UN peacekeepers in strife-hit Congo, an officer said on Tuesday.
The inquiry is being held in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, where the officers and soldiers are being questioned to conclude if they had sexually abused local women and also fathered children while on a UN peacekeeping mission in 2008, the officer at the Army headquarters in New Delhi said.
The court of inquiry is headed by a brigadier, with two colonels as its members.
The sexual abuse allegations emerged after DNA tests commissioned by the UN on the children born to local women in Durla in the Congo showed they had "distinctive Indian features". The UN wrote to Indian Army requesting further investigations, with the latest reminder coming in August 2010.
In January, the Army asked its Chandimandir-based Western Command to order a court of inquiry and it was constituted on May 24. "There are some allegations and we are investigating into the issue," the officer said, adding that the army headquarters had received an inconclusive report from UN.
Following the allegations, the regiment in which the officers and soldiers were serving was recalled from the Congo and attached to the Western Command headquarters.
Army launches probe into forces
Indian Army has launched a court of inquiry against 12 officers and 39 soldiers allegedly involved in cases of sexual abuse while they were deployed as UN peacekeepers in strife-hit Congo, an officer said on Tuesday.
The inquiry is being held in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, where the officers and soldiers are being questioned to conclude if they had sexually abused local women and also fathered children while on a UN peacekeeping mission in 2008, the officer at the Army headquarters in New Delhi said.
The court of inquiry is headed by a brigadier, with two colonels as its members.
The sexual abuse allegations emerged after DNA tests commissioned by the UN on the children born to local women in Durla in the Congo showed they had "distinctive Indian features". The UN wrote to Indian Army requesting further investigations, with the latest reminder coming in August 2010.
In January, the Army asked its Chandimandir-based Western Command to order a court of inquiry and it was constituted on May 24. "There are some allegations and we are investigating into the issue," the officer said, adding that the army headquarters had received an inconclusive report from UN.
Following the allegations, the regiment in which the officers and soldiers were serving was recalled from the Congo and attached to the Western Command headquarters.
Army launches probe into forces
