In recent years, disturbing patterns have emerged where army officers, specifically from prestigious army institutions, have misused their position and country's trust and respect on Indian army to form inappropriate relationships under the false pretence of serious intentions. This behaviour not only tarnishes the reputation of the army but leads to significant emotional harm to those involved. I am personally affected by this, with having two officers from ARTRAC, who tried to emotionally manipulate me, and one of them went way too far. They pursued me with vigour with promises of marriage, and eventually, I let my guards down, only to be deserted after reaching an advanced emotional stage in our relationship. It feels like falling prey to a common system where officers exploit their status and enjoy power without accountability.

It raises the critical question: is it acceptable for army officers to behave in this manner without facing any repercussions just because the whole country supports the Indian Army blindly? Isn't that clear mis advantage of nation's trust? There seems to be a glaring loophole within existing regulations that permits such behaviour, one that desperately needs addressing through legislative measures to protect civilians, particularly women, from falling victim to these betrayals.

Statistics might reveal an increasing number of similar cases where women have fallen prey to this kind of emotional manipulation by army officers. Such conduct is not only unprofessional but deeply unethical and goes against the values the Indian Army  as well as our country stands for and deeply painful for the victims.
To address this issue, we urge the Ministry of Defence and the Indian Government to draft and enforce a strict code of conduct specifically targeting the interactions between army personnel and civilians, with a focus on safeguarding civilian women from deceitful officers. Implementing stringent penalties and strict actions for violations, conducting regular ethical trainings and checks, and establishing a confidential reporting system within army institutions are essential steps toward resolving this issue. 

We know the Indian Army is handed with a much serious and bigger geopolitical responsibilities and roles related to safety of the whole country, borders etc, but my question is, what about social and ethical responsibilities that come with being a citizen of this country themselves? How will the country be safe in entirety till it's women are not safe, till bigger issues at borders are addressed but the issues inside the country core happening at hands of the ones who are supposed to protect us are not even spoken of and ignored? We respect and honor Indian army and are forever grateful as citizens and as a country, as a society, for their service. However, with higher respect and higher trust come higher responsibilities, and such things, the dark sides also need to be addressed one at a time to stop our respect and trust on Indian army and similar reputed organisations from being tarnished and put to question. It is very important to maintain our faith on those who claim to protect us. Till these things aren't controlled, there will always be these invisible stains on the respect that such a noble profession otherwise deserves and the country cannot feel completely safe even when we ideally should feel much safe around defence personnel, but it is unfortunately the opposite especially for us women. The women of the country will have one more source of threat and damage, adding to the already existing many sources, and this one sadly from a place that should feel completely safe and add to our feeling of safety and security as women, as society and as a country.

Ours is a country where women are held in highest regard, be it addressing the country as Bharat Mata, be it our deities and goddesses, be it our wives, partners, mothers, sisters, friends etc, women are held with utmost respect in our country and deserve that place for reasons well known. How is it that a country and the organisation that I see actively worshiping Goddesses otherwise, falling on their feet, the land of great tales of Sati, Parvati, Kalika, the land of shrines on the likes of Vaishnodevi, treats it's own women as such? We always have to think so much before being able to raise our voices and stand up for ourselves when anything wrong happens to us, because the society already demands us to suppress our voices, and if we dare to raise our voices, we face fears like being disrespected, our own character being questioned and assassinated, being dragged in public with no-one supporting women, the blames coming back on us falsely with the use of powers, positions and politics, being looked down upon and losing our dignity for life, being threatened, being abused or assaulted or even getting killed, having our families suffer and dragged unnecessarily. All these fears at the back of our voices always win and our voice always loses. The questions mostly come back to women raising their voices in this country and not to those who do wrong. I confronted the said officers many times, to see if I get understanding and justifying behaviours and actions from them that can reinforce my damaged sense of self respect and dignity I deserve as a woman who was innocent enough to trust their vows and may be save my relationship, all in vain, they instead disappeared,  either blamed me for threatening them and pressuring them to do the right thing or threatened me in various ways and tried to suppress my voice in various ways like false promises again repeating, emotional drama or then abuse, violence etc. if I did not accept their promises or refused to trust them again. I tried to reach out to many official authorities to take the matter up against the involved officers specifically, with no luck sometimes  and lack of courage to show up publicly because of all the thoughts and fears clouding my mind the other times. But, the fight for our rights has to start somewhere, if not for myself, for safeguarding the next victims of similar abuse before they fall victims. Hence, I have decided to take this up. I am trying to raise my voice in whatever ways that feel comfortable to me at this point of time after feeling helpless and abused for many months now, with a hope that I will find more people like me and some support from the right places to feel more comfortable to further speak up for myself and others in ways necessary.

By signing this petition, you're lending your voice to demand necessary and immediate reforms that protect the dignity and emotional well-being of every civilian lady interacting with army officers. I am suffering, and I have landed in a very critical state emotionally, psychologically, mentally as well as professionally and financially, physically as well, attacked and injured many times and even grievously sometimes, during those confrontations. I have been abused and harassed under false pretensions of fake promises and words. It might be my weakness of discernment but is that a bigger mistake that we lay our faith on humanity especially on such highly valued organizations or is that a bigger mistake that such people take advantage of our faith and their authority. I was living my life with dignity and hard work, with a very positive and pure purpose, when suddenly this storm was thrown at me without any intent, any fault or any initiative towards it from my end and it took away my everything with it's blow. I am sure there are many others out there who have been through or are going through the same, have fallen a victim to the same situation, and have been silenced or have silenced themselves, I see you. We see a lot of such incidents being broadcasted in social media forums everywhere, some staying and some forcibly being removed by defaming and targeting the victim itself for raising their voices against a big organisation which we all otherwise respect, hence anyone hardly coming out pointing the abuser in question just like I didn't have the courage to label him, whether due to my kindness, my hopes or my fear of not receiving any support.

I call out all my fellow ladies and urge you all to speak up and raise your voices and come up in large numbers in support, not for anyone else but even if just for yourself. What we all need is not suffer but speak out now, and support each other, so that women like us stop suffering. Together, we can safeguard our own borders and boundaries even more. Together we can make it work and better for all of us. This hypocritical culture where only a woman is questioned and pointed at, should stop. If this gives us all even a little chance to save one more amongst us from going through the same experience or fall victim to such situations, or to feel content that we tried to stand for ourselves, its not a bad idea to take this chance, that's the only motive I'm proceeding here with. Stand with us to ensure no one else falls victim to these exploitations. Sign now to urge policymakers to take decisive action.