Sexual harassment case: Haryana woman coach claims ’She was offered Rs 1 Cr to leave country’

mangaloretoday.com / News18

Chandigarh, Jan 04, 2023: The woman coach, who has accused former Haryana sports minister Sandeep Singh of sexually harassing her, on Tuesday claimed that she was offered Rs 1 crore to shift to some other country. A three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), set up by the Chandigarh Police to probe the case, also recorded her statement during an eight-hour-long questioning.

Trouble seems to be mounting for Singh, a former Olympian and first-time MLA from Pehowa in Kurukshetra, as the victim’s counsel has demanded her statement to be recorded under Section 164 of the CrpC before a magistrate.

Following this, police took the victim to record her statement before a magistrate, however, the same could not be done today. Her statement is likely to be recorded on Wednesday.

Earlier, the victim accompanied by her lawyers arrived at the Sector 26 police station at around 11 am where an FIR was filed. According to sources, she handed over her cell phones and some documents to the SIT. After her statement was recorded, the victim’s lawyer Deepanshu Bansal insisted on getting her statement recorded before the magistrate.

Speaking to the media after questioning, the victim alleged that she had been offered Rs 1 crore to strike a compromise. “I have been offered Rs 1 crore to shift to some other country."

Bansal raised questions over police investigation, claiming that while the victim had been questioned four times, the 36-year-old BJP leader was yet to be booked under non-bailable offences and not even called for questioning.

The FIR against Singh was registered on December 31, a day after the coach had approached the Chandigarh Police with her complaint. In her complaint, the coach had alleged that Singh had first seen her at a gym and then contacted her on Instagram.

She had stated that Singh would send her messages on Instagram and Snapchat. On July 1 last year, he had allegedly made a Snapchat call and asked her to visit his residence-cum-camp office in Sector 7 in Chandigarh for some official work.

“Around 6.50 pm, he called me to his office and molested me. My T-shirt was torn. I managed to push him aside and ran out of the room as the door was unlocked," she had alleged.

Singh has been booked under sections 354 (assault or use of criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354 A (sexual harassment), 354 B (compelling her to be naked), 342 (wrongful confinement), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), a Chandigarh police spokesperson had said.

Singh had on Sunday announced to “hand over the sports department to the CM" on “humanity and moral grounds" after Chandigarh Police lodged an FIR against him. He also holds the Printing and Stationery Department and has not resigned from the Cabinet.

Singh, a prolific drag-flicker who was nicknamed “Flicker Singh", was the only one among three sportspersons fielded by the BJP in the October 2019 Haryana polls to taste victory.