HARYANA'S SPORTS MINISTER HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT

When she visited the state's sports minister Sandeep Singh's official residence in Chandigarh, a female junior athletics coach in Haryana claimed he had engaged in sexual misconduct.

The Chandigarh police have charged Sandeep Singh, the sports minister for Haryana, with sexually abusing a female junior athletics coach after hearing her allegation.

A case was reportedly filed on Saturday at the Sector 26 police station under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to insult her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354B (Assault or use of criminal force to a woman with intent to disrobe), 342 (wrongful imprisonment), and 506 (criminal intimidation).

A former hockey captain and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Pehowa in Kurukshetra, Singh, was accused of sexual misconduct by a female coach on Thursday while she was at his Chandigarh residence's official address.

On Friday, the woman paid a visit to the Chandigarh police department's main office. She spoke with the senior superintendent of police Manisha Choudhary and the superintendent of police (SP city), Shruti Arora.

However, the minister rejected the accusation as unfounded and demanded an impartial investigation.

In September, the woman hired as a junior coach stated that she had "complete faith in the Chandigarh police" and had been promised a fair investigation. The woman was selected for the government's excellent sportsperson programme and competed in the Rio Olympics.