Anjali Gupta, first female officer to be court martialled in India

New Delhi: Flying Officer Anjali Gupta was an officer in the Indian Air Force. She was the first female officer in India to be court martialled. A military court had found her guilty of indiscipline and embezzlement. She alleged her superiors had sexually harassed her. She was working at the Aircraft Systems and Testing Establishment in Bangalore. The daughter of a schoolteacher mother and a bank officer father, she was the second of three sisters. Anjali completed an M.Phil. in Sociology from Delhi University and was first posted at Belgaum in 2001. In February 2005, Anjali Gupta filed a case against three of her superiors at a police station in Bangalore. The police asked her to resolve the issue with her superiors. Anjali Gupta later approached the Karnataka High Court, demanding an enquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation. A few days after Anjali Gupta alleged in a TV interview that she was a victim of sexual harassment at the workplace, General Court Martial (GCM) proceedings against her were initiated. In an April 7 letter to the Chief of Air Staff and the defence ministry, Anjali alleged her seniors had framed her in cases of embezzlement of funds and indiscipline, charges for which had been already made by then. The IAF's charges against Anjali included fudging bills for allowances, 'behaviour unbecoming of an officer in throwing a breakfast parcel meant for a senior officer' and not reporting for duty. Anjali's bank officer father and schoolteacher mother Uma Gupta live in Delhi. During the course of the trial, Uma Gupta told the media her husband had had a paralytic attack and that Anjali was not allowed to meet her ailing father. The IAF said Anjali -- who has an M Phil in Sociology from Delhi University -- was placed under custody only because she was threatening suicide. On 11 September 2011, Anjali Gupta was found hanging at a relative's home in Bhopal.