Haryana minister Sandeep Singh booked for sexual harassment on coach's complaint

Haryana Sports Minister and former hockey star Sandeep Singh has been charged with sexual harassment and criminal intimidation on a complaint by a junior athletics coach.

The Chandigarh Police said Singh has been booked under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), reported sources.

The complainant alleged that Singh indulged in sexual misconduct when she visited his official residence in Chandigarh. Singh is a BJP MLA from Pehowa in Kurukshetra.

The woman, a junior coach who had taken part in the Rio Olympics, held a press conference at the office of the opposition party Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). She alleged that Singh would send her messages on Instagram and Snapchat.

The incident happened on July 1, 2022, when Singh contacted her on Instagram, asking her to visit his official residence in Sector 7 at Chandigarh. He said it was for "verification of documents." The complainant added that this was regarding her national games certificate which has been misplaced by the federation. She added that she had taken up the certificate issue with the government.

When she visited his official residence in Sector 7, Chandigarh, for verification of documents, Singh tried to molest her, the woman alleged. "My T-shirt was torn. I managed to push him aside and ran out of the room as the door was unlocked," she added.

"I have full faith in the Chandigarh police and was assured a fair inquiry," she said, while also demanding security.

However, Sandeep Singh has denied the allegations, calling it politically motivated.

Meanwhile, the opposition INLD has demanded that the Manohar Lal Khattar government immediately sack Sandeep Singh and set up a Special Investigation Team to probe the matter.

A former olympian, Singh's biopic titled 'Soorma' was released in 2018 with Diljith Dosanj in the lead. He was also a judge on the reality TV show MTV Roadies.

Singh rose to fame after being accidentally shot by an assistant sub-inspector of the Railways Police Force, on board a train to Delhi, just two days before the 2007 Hockey World Cup. This left him paralysed from the waist down for a year from which he made a miraculous recovery.'