An Army colonel accused of raping his civilian friend's wife of Russian origin after intoxicating her husband at the Officers' Mess in Cantonment area in India was arrested on Tuesday.

"Col Neeraj Gahlot was arrested while trying to flee to an unknown place to evade his arrest," said Superintendent of Police (East) Raj Kumar Agarwal according to Indian news media.

Police had launched an operation for Col Neeraj Gahlot whose mobile location was traced in the vicinity of officers' mess on Monday evening but he had been evading his arrest, said the Police.

The colonel was charged on Sunday for allegedly raping his friend's wife at the Officers' Mess, police said.

The woman's husband, a civilian, lodged an FIR against the Army officer at the Cantonment police station, SP Agarwal had said earlier

According to the complainant, his wife is of Russian descent and has been living in India for 10 years.

The accused allegedly had invited his civilian friend to the Officer's Mess and gave him an intoxicating drink which made him him unconscious, said police adding the Army officer subsequently raped his friend's wife.

The accused also allegedly assaulted the woman when she put up a resistance

After raping the woman, the colonel took leave from his bosses and went underground to evade arrest, said an official.

The rape survivor was subsequently produced before a judicial magistrate who recorded her statement under section 164 of the CrPC, said Mr Pathak, adding the statement, however, is yet to be shown to the police.

The victim’s husband, a civilian, lodged an FIR against the Army officer at the Cantonment police station.

According to the complainant, his wife is of Russian descent and has been living in India for 10 years.

The accused allegedly had invited his civilian friend to the Officer’s Mess and gave him an intoxicating drink which made him unconscious, said police adding the Army officer subsequently raped his friend’s wife.

The accused also allegedly assaulted the woman when she put up a resistance.

After raping the woman, the colonel took leave from his bosses and went underground to evade arrest, said an official.

The rape survivor was subsequently produced before a judicial magistrate who recorded her statement.

One rape was reported every 16 minutes in India in 2019. Rape is the fourth most common crime against women in India. According to the 2019 annual report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 32033 rape cases were registered across the country, or an average of 88 cases daily, slightly lower than 2018 when 91 cases were registered daily with 30,165 rapes committed by perpetrators known to the victim (94.2 % of cases).