Army officer booked for raping MP policewoman on pretext of marriage in 2012

Bhopal: An Army officer has been charged with raping a female constable of the Madhya Pradesh police posted in Bhopal city on the pretext of marriage in an incident dating back to 2012, police said on Friday.

Varun Pratap Singh (48), a Lieutenant Colonel currently posted in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, was booked on Thursday under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 69 (sexual intercourse by using deceitful means or making a false promise of marriage) and 351 (2) (criminal intimidation) on a complaint filed by the 42-year-old victim, they said citing the first information report (FIR).

The accused had threatened to harm the victim if she filed a police complaint against him, it said.

When contacted, Bhopal Police Women Security Assistant Commissioner Nidhi Saxena said the accused was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army and "We have informed his unit (about the case)."

"If he comes down for interrogation, then its fine, otherwise arrest procedure would have to be followed," Saxena said.

His alleged act of establishing physical relationship with the woman on the pretext of marriage and then reneging on his promise falls under the definition of rape, the police officer explained.

According to the complainant, a constable with the MP police in Bhopal, she met first Singh, who claimed he was a bachelor and posted at an Army canteen, in 2012.

The woman claimed the Army officer called her to his place in Bhopal on December 25, 2012, and established "consensual physical relation" with her after promising to marry her.

In the complaint, the victim stated that in 2013 she came to know that the Army officer was already married. When she confronted Singh over his marital status, he told her he was about to divorce his wife.

After that he started delaying marriage with the victim on some pretext or the other and cooked up stories like his parents were unwell, according to the FIR.

On February 24, 2025, the victim came to know that the Army officer was in simultaneous relationships with other women whom also he had promised to marry, it said.

When the police constable contacted Singh, currently posted with the Army Service Corps (Mechanized Transport) battalion and questioned him about his relationships, he started arguing and said he won't marry her now, said the FIR.

"Varun told me that if I lodge a complaint, he will bump me off and hang me," the victim stated in her complaint.