Minister Sandeep molested, tried to kiss me, tore my shirt: Woman coach
Bhartesh Singh Thakur
Chandigarh, August 26
After the Chandigarh Police filed a chargesheet against Haryana’s Minister of State for Printing and Stationery, Sandeep Singh, for molesting a junior women’s coach of the state’s Sports Department, the complainant said the probe took eight months, but still the attempt to rape charge had not been pressed.
Expressing her dissatisfaction over the chargesheet, she said while evidence reflected that the minister tried to rape her, the Chandigarh Police had watered down the charges.
The police have pressed molestation, wrongful confinement, criminal intimidation and using a word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman against Sandeep Singh.
“I have been suspended for raising my voice, but the accused minister Sandeep Singh is hoisting the national flag on Independence Day. I am surprised that the CM, who called my allegations “anargal” (intemperate) has not removed him yet,” she added.
Her lawyer Sameer Sethi said, “When the stage would come for the framing of the charges, we would press for the inclusion of attempt to rape section against the minister.”
The woman coach has told the police that Sandeep Singh contacted her through Instagram and Snapchat and had been sending her messages. On July 1, 2022, he allegedly made a call through Snapchat and asked her to meet him at his official residence in Chandigarh.
She said Sandeep Singh pressured her to get her documents verified for the job and offered that he would get her sponsorship.
She took an Uber cab on July 1, 2022, and reached the minister’s residence at around 6:50 p.m. and met Sandeep Singh at his office. Then, he allegedly called her to a cabin, along the office, to check the documents. He allegedly started molesting her and told her that he liked her.
He allegedly told her to stop running around and that he would get her a sponsor and have her Instagram profile verified. He allegedly told her “to keep him happy as other girls also don’t refuse him”.
She alleged that he continued to molest her and allegedly tried to kiss her. When she protested and pushed him, he tore her T-shirt, she told the police. She said she managed to push Sandeep Singh and escape as the door was unlocked and foiled the “rape attempt” of the minister.
During interrogation, Sandeep Singh agreed that the coach came to his residence, but his response regarding her duration of stay was contradictory to the travel record provided by Uber. She left at 8:38 pm, as per Uber’s record.
“There is enough evidence for pressing attempt to rape charge against Sandeep Singh,” said woman’s counsel Deepanshu Bansal.
Sandeep Singh had allegedly shared with the coach a confidential list of appointments in the Sports Department on May 13, 2022, to gain her trust, the police claimed.
After the July 1, 2022, incident, she claimed that the minister harassed her by creating problems in her training at Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Panchkula. Her foreign training permission was also denied and she was transferred to Jhajjar from Panchkula, where there were no athletics track facilities.
Was in touch via Snapchat, Insta
The woman coach has told the police that Sandeep Singh contacted her through Instagram and Snapchat and had been sending her messages. On July 1, 2022, he allegedly made a call through Snapchat and asked her to meet him at his official residence, house number 72, Sector 7, Chandigarh.
‘Not satisfied with chargesheet’
While evidence reflected that the minister tried to rape me, the Chandigarh Police has watered down the charges. — Coach
