Sep Shaik Ibrahim of ASC AT joined the Indian Army on 26 Aug1996 and absented himself without leave (AWL) on 12 Sep 2012 on completion of 16 years service (15 years, 11 months & 16 days) and was declared a deserter. He died during his desertion on 23Apr 2016, away from his home town. As per the rules in vogue, the individual was dismissed from army service wef 12.09.2012 under AA Section 20(3) and para 22 of AO 43/2001/DV.
He left behind his widow, Smt. Shaik Rahina and two minor daughters. The widow submitted a mercy petition for family pension along with its connected documents in accordance with check list of DESW Memo dt 28 Jul 2020. The petition was forwarded to the Secretary, DESW, duly recommended by ZSWO Prakasam District of Andhra Pradesh on 06 Nov 2020. However her mercy petition was rejected by ASC RECORDS AT due to technical reasons. No terminal benefits were given to the sepoy or his widow since the Army declared him a deserter though he has completed 16 years of service. The late sepoy had an excellent service record till his AWL and his absence from the unit-lines was due to some psychological problems that he had developed.
The widow has been eking out a pitiful existence. She and her daughters, now aged 20 and 14, are doing menial jobs to support themselves. The pathetic case was brought to the notice of TSEWA, who immediately sanctioned a one-time grant of Rs.20,000/-. Also, the elder daughter is due to be married. Since ASC AT has rejected the mercy petition, TSEWA has also taken up this case with Secretary, DESW, MOD but we do not see any light out of the dark tunnel of MOD Corridors.
TSEWA intends to file a case on her behalf in the AFT for granting family pension to her since the late Sepoy completed 16 years of service and otherwise would have been eligible for pension. Our TSEWA Advocate, Col Ravi Chowdary will be filing the case in the AFT. However, this case may take a long time before justice is done to the widow who is suffering without any pension for no fault of hers.
In view of the above, an appeal was made to all TSEWA Members to donate generously to help the poor widow and her daughters. As usual, members opened their hearts and wallets and as of date, a sum of Rs 1,33,610/- has been received. It was decided by the Charity Committee that a sum of Rs 10,000/- may be sent in each month for six months from Feb 2022 to July 2022. The remaining amount and any further donations will be kept for filing the case in AFT/HC so that she is awarded the Family Pension due to her.
We thank our generous donors for coming forward to help the struggling family of Sep Shaik Ibrahim.
Click on this link to see the List of Donors to Smt Shaik Rahina