Two Finger Test Done On Coimbatore Air Force College Rape Survivor: Report

Air Force College Rape Case: A woman at the Indian Air Force College in Redfields, Coimbatore was allegedly raped by a flight lieutenant named Amitesh. The accused man was sent to judicial custody on September 26, 2021.

As per a report by The News Minute, the FIR of the case mentions that the alleged incident took place on September 10 but the compliant in the case was filed on September 20. The survivor in the FIR claimed that she had suffered an injury on September 9 after which she had taken a painkiller. Later the day, she went to the Officers' Mess Bar and had two drinks with her coursemates. The accused man had allegedly insisted on paying for one of her drinks.

The survivor then started feeling nauseous and vomited. She put to her bed by two of her peers. That is when the accused allegedly came to her room and tried to wake her up several times. The survivor claimed in the complaint that she told Amitesh to leave as she wanted to sleep. Next morning, the woman's friend came to wake her up and asked why was Amitesh in her room at night. The friend suspected that Amitesh had sexually assaulted the survivor.

After seeing the physical evidence of what had happened in the night and listening to her friend's account, the survivor too realised that she was sexually assaulted. On approaching the seniors over the issue, she was allegedly told to think about her family their reputation. She was reportedly warned against filing the complaint as the officers told her name could be leaked. The next day, the survivor was given two options, either file a complaint or write a letter stating that the sex was consensual.

As per the reported details of the FIR, when the survivor finally decided to file a complaint she was made to take a two finger test and a vaginal swab was also taken. The two finger has been banned in India since eight years now. She was also asked about her sexual history which is prohibited by the law. She also said that the accused had confessed about "taking advantage of her" while she was unconscious in a video recorded by her coursemates. The video has been reportedly submitted to magistrate as a "extra judicial confession".

According to the report, the vaginal swabs were taken on September 11 and were not sent for testing until the survivor filed a police complaint on September 20. As per protocol, the samples have to be sent for testing on the same day as they can lead to fungal infections and skewing the results. The woman was allegedly told that the sample test came negative even though no tests were done. In the FIR, the survivor also claimed that there were semen marks on her mattress and she was asked to leave her room. The mattress was kept padlocked in the room until September 17. After the survivor felt that her case was not heard properly by the Indian Air Force, she lodged a police complaint on September 20.

The accused man has reportedly filed an affidavit in the case on September 25 in which he has argued that the police or criminal court do not have the authority to try him. The affidavit stated that the rape case against him was for the Court Martial system. The authority within the Indian Air Force tries cases in Court Martial system.