Bangalore, May 24: Flying Officer Anjali Gupta, who had accused three seniors of sexual harassment and is facing court martial on charges of financial irregularities, was taken to hospital today for psychiatric tests amid protests by family members.

The prosecution, represented by Wing Commander R.K. Dubey, told the military court that Anjali has been admitted to Air Force Command Hospital here and the tests would last 10 days. In the afternoon, the presiding officer, Group Captain V. Ganesh, adjourned general court martial proceedings till Thursday.

Anjali’s family suspects the tests are a ruse to prolong her detention and even label her mentally unsound.

“They (the IAF) are doing something to harm her in every sense and to save their skin. How come they are forcing her to face the court martial if she is not mentally fit?” asked Jitender Garg, her brother-in-law.

Garg said Anjali had no inkling of the tests till her escorts told her this morning.

In an official statement, the air force said the flying officer was released from close arrest (for the first time since April 8) and referred to the Command Hospital.

A panel of medical specialists, service psychiatrists and a lady psychiatrist from NIMHANS, Bangalore, will examine her to rule out “suicidal tendencies”.

“Flying Officer Anjali Gupta has been making repeated requests to the GCM for release from close arrest. As informed earlier, she is placed in air force custody (close arrest) to prevent her from harming herself. This is apprehended as she had, in her letter to the Karnataka State Commission for Women, stated that she is on the verge of taking her life?.”

But Garg said Anjali had asked for release from close arrest only to appoint a civil lawyer of her choice.

“She had said in her letter to the Karnataka State Commission for Women that she will be forced to take the extreme step as nobody in the IAF or the local police department want to hear her complaint. Now, that statement is being used to detain her,” her brother-in-law said.