New Delhi, July 24: Allegations that the wife of an army officer slapped and abused a subordinate officer's wife at a social gathering organised by the Army Wives Welfare Association has prompted an inquiry by the army headquarters.

Army sources said that last week's "incident" at the Bathinda military station in Punjab was not a one-off, and that it was common for wives of superior officers to ill-treat those of juniors.

A senior army officer who declined to be quoted said a preliminary inquiry suggested that the alleged victim, a lieutenant colonel's wife, had been subjected to "physical assault and inhuman treatment only for reaching the event late and talking too much".

Asked whether the superior officer's wife could be punished if the inquiry found her guilty, army spokesperson Col Aman Anand evaded a direct answer. "The spouses are not governed under the Army Act," was all he said.

"We have ordered an inquiry following instructions from the Prime Minister's Office," a source at the army headquarters told The Telegraph . "The catfight between the wives of two senior officers has embarrassed the army brass and lowered the image of the force."

The wives' association, a non-government body headed by the wife of the army chief, has an unwritten code that ties a wife's place in the hierarchy to her husband's rank. A lieutenant general's wife, therefore, has precedence over a major general's or a colonel's wife.

Initially, sources said, the senior army and police officers present at the gathering had tried to keep the controversy under wraps. But three days after the event, the officer whose wife suffered the alleged assault wrote a letter of complaint to the Prime Minister's Office, Union home minister Rajnath Singh and the human rights panel.

"A senior army officer's wife publicly scolded, abused, threatened and physically beat (the) wife of a junior army officer during an event of the unconstitutional AWWA," the letter says.

"The victim is likely to be harassed and curbed from seeking justice by the unconstitutional AWWA...."

An army source said: "The defence ministry too has sought a report."

The wives' association was originally formed to help war widows and their children --- a task it still attends to, along with the organisation of events such as fashion shows and social and cultural programmes. It functions out of the army headquarters at South Block, New Delhi.

Army sources said that many members of the wives' association had in the past complained about having to work virtually as errand girls to keep superior officers' wives in good humour so that their husbands didn't miss out on promotions.

Last year, the wives of two majors had complained on the social media about poor treatment by their seniors in the wives' association.

"In the backdrop of such complaints, the then army chief, General Bikram Singh, had in 2013 directed all commanders that the wives of officers of all ranks should be groomed to fulfil their role in the organisation (wives' association)," an army source said.