Delhi: Kabbadi player accuses coach of raping, blackmailing her

New Delhi, February 6

A 27-year-old Kabbadi player, who has represented India in international events, has accused her coach of raping and blackmailing her by threatening to leak her private pictures on social media, police said on Monday.

She had filed a complaint against her coach at the Baba Haridas Nagar police station in Dwarka last week, and joined the investigation in the case on Monday, they said.

Her statement has been recorded before a court under section 164 (magistrate recording a confession or statement) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), police said.

“In her complaint, the woman said she was preparing for a Kabaddi competition in Hirankudna near Mundka in Delhi in 2012. In March 2015, her coach made sexual relation with her without her consent,” a senior police officer said.

She has also accused her coach of criminal intimidation, he said quoting the complaint.

“She further stated that in 2018, the accused forced her to give him a part of the wining amount (from a competition) following which she transferred Rs 43.5 lakh in the bank account of her coach, who has been identified as Joginder,” the officer said.

“In 2021, she got married and the accused is now blackmailing her by threatening to leak her private photos,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) M Harsha Vardhan, said the case has been registered under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

“During investigation, today she joined the probe and her statement was recorded in court under section 164 of the CrPC. We have formed teams to nab the absconding coach,” he said.

The case comes close on the heels of some of the country’s top wrestlers levelling allegations of sexual harassment and corruption against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

They had staged a protest in January but ended it after the government asked Singh to step aside.