Hindustan Times (India): Afghan woman wants 'justice' from Army

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=RSSFeed-NorthIndia&id=8b0e0ca8-8717-45db-b530-cbfef320bbe3

Afghan woman wants 'justice' from Army
Press Trust Of India
New Delhi, January 15, 2009
First Published: 17:46 IST(15/1/2009) ; Last Updated: 17:47 IST(15/1/2009)

Afghan national Sabra Khan wants the Indian Army to do "justice" by speaking to her or her lawyer on the police case against a serving major on bigamy charges.

Reacting to army chief General Deepak Kapoor's remarks at a press conference yesterday that there was a "dichotomy" in the FIR, Khan said: "If they (Army) are doing an investigation, they should also speak to me or my lawyer (about the complaint)."

Her lawyer Ravinder Gariha, speaking on Sabra's behalf, said the army was not intending to do justice to Sabra, but was investigating the charges against Major Chandrasekhar Pant to ensure discipline within its ranks.

"Army is not investigating the complaint to do justice to Sabra, but is investigating to ensure discipline can be maintained," Gariha told a television channel in New Delhi.

On Thursday, Kapoor had said the army had done its own investigation and found certain "dichotomy" in what Sabra claimed in her FIR to the police and the army records.

"The dichotomy stems from the fact that her so-called marriage took place in December. As per our records and the detainment of the officer on mission to Afghanistan, he was there from January to November. So there is a basic dichotomy in what the FIR has said and what the officer has done when he was detailed there," Kapoor had said.

The woman, being a foreign national, had to follow the procedure of approaching the Indian Embassy in Kabul, he had said at the annual Army Day eve press conference.