Hockey coach arrested for raping minor player in Haryana

Days after coach Ankush Bhardwaj was booked on charges of sexually assaulting a national-level minor shooter in Faridabad, a minor hockey player in Rewari has accused a coach of raping her.

Acting swiftly, the police arrested the accused and produced him before a Rewari court, which remanded him to two-day police custody. “The identity of the accused has been kept confidential in accordance with the directions of the court,” said police spokesperson Raj Kumar.

The complainant, a Class XII student, lodged a complaint on January 9, alleging that the junior coach, who had known her for nearly three years, raped her in a stadium washroom about four months ago.

“Following that, I got pregnant. The child was aborted on January 5, after which my condition deteriorated and my family got me admitted to a hospital,” she stated. On the basis of her complaint, the police registered a case under the POCSO Act and arrested the junior coach.