he woman who was found in a hotel in J&K’s Srinagar with Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi said that she had met the Army officer out of her own free will and that he was his Facebook friend. In her statement before a city Magistrate, the woman claimed that both Gogoi and she knew each other for quite some time and had met earlier as well. She also said that she isn’t a minor and had wanted to spend some time with Gogoi. The woman also showed her Aadhaar card as proof of her date of birth and the told the magistrate that she is an adult.

The woman’s statement has been recorded by the Jammu and Kashmir Police before a city Magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). On the other hand, the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Srinagar, has asked the J&K police to provide status report on the whole matter.

Meanwhile, the woman’s mother had an altogether different story to tell. As per a TOI report,  the mother of the woman in question, Naseema Begum alleged that both Major Gogoi and Sameer Mala had been raiding their house in civilian clothes since March 2018 and accused Mala of ‘luring’ her daughter and also bringing Major Gogoi to their house.

The incident came to light when an altercation at a hotel in Srinagar prompted the hotel authorities to call in the police. It is then that Major Gogoi, the woman and another person named Sameer Ahmad Malla, a local army personnel were arrested by the police and questioned. Major Gogoi had booked a room for two in the hotel and when he arrived with the woman, the hotel authorities denied his booking saying they couldn’t allow the same as the woman was a local and their hotel policy didn’t allow them to do so. This turned into an argument and hence the police was called to intervene and take stock of the situation.

Meanwhile, the Army has ordered an inquiry against Major Gogoi and Army chief General Bipin Rawat has said that the harshest of punishment would be meted out to Major Leetul Gogoi if he is found guilty.