Congo sex scandal: Four army men indicted

Four army personnel, including a Major, have been indicted by a Court of Inquiry (CoI) into a case of alleged sexual exploitation of women in Congo during their deployment under a UN mission in 2007-08.
  
Army Chief General Bikram Singh said here Wednesday that CoI into the case has been completed and the DNA sample of one jawan has matched with one of the kids allegedly fathered by Indian troopers in Congo.
  
According to the CoI, three persons will face administrative actions for Command and Control failure and the jawan will face disciplinary action, Gen Singh said.
  
The CoI has found three others personnel responsible for Command and Control failure. One of the officials include a Company Commander of the rank of Major, while other two are a JCO and a Havildar.
  
Army officials also said the report of the CoI has been sent by the 11 Corps HQ to Western Command but it is yet to reach the Army headquarters here.
  
The CoI was ordered by the Army in May 2011 after United Nations communicated to the Indian government that personnel of 6 Sikh regiment were allegedly involved in sexual exploitation of women during their deployment in Congo in 2007-08.
  
The CoI was held in Meerut Cantonment under a Brigadier and had two Colonels as its members.

The UN mission to Congo, which was established in late 1999, is one of the largest UN peacekeeping missions in the world, and India had a brigade-size contribution – nearly 4,000 troops-- to the multi-national force serving there at that time.
  
In 2010 also, an inquiry was launched against a Major who was allegedly found in the company of sex workers in a hotel in Congo.
  
In March 2008, three Indian peace-keepers to UN Mission in Congo were detained by Pretoria police in South Africa after a woman complained that they had raped her.
  
The UN indictment of Indian troops in that episode of sexual abuse had surfaced in a probe report, which had revealed "prima-facie evidence" against a number of Indian peace-keepers previously assigned to one of the units with the UN Mission in Congo.