New Delhi: The Indian Army has cleared three officers deputed to the UN Mission in Congo of rape.
The Army has claimed the officers – who include two Majors and a Lieutenant Colonel – were victims of a mugging attempt.
The South African police had intervened immediately whereupon a woman, who had been trying to deprive them of their valuables, accused them of rape. The South African Police found the accusation untrue, the Army has said.
No FIR or criminal charges were filed against the three officers. They have reported back to duty at the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Government has denied denies that the matter was raised by South Africa in Secretary-level defence talks in New Delhi on March 12. The facts about the incident were conveyed to the Government by the Indian High Commission in South Africa.
There is no further inquiry by the Ministry of Defence or Army Headquarters into the incident and the matter is being treated as closed.
The officers, whose names have not been disclosed, are presently with the North Kivu brigade of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC).
The three were detained last Wednesday by South African police after a woman resident of Plettenberg Bay in Pretoria charged them with rape. They were outside their area of deployment –MONUC headquarters in Kinshasa – and were holidaying in Pretoria.
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