Female coach, who levelled sexual misconduct allegations against Haryana Minister Sandeep Singh, suspended
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Chandigarh: A female junior athletic coach in Haryana, who had accused Sandeep Singh, a minister of state in the Haryana government and former captain of the Indian hockey team, of sexual harassment, has been suspended from services.
Haryana sports department director Yashendra Singh issued the suspension orders on August 11. However, no reasons have been mentioned for the suspension.
“The services of the junior athletic coach are placed under suspension with immediate effect without prejudice,” the order reads. The coach will be entitled for subsistence allowance during the suspension period, as admissible under rule 83 of Haryana Civil Services (General) Rules, 2016, the order further said.
The Chandigarh police on December 31, 2022 had booked Singh on charges of stalking, illegal confinement, sexual harassment and criminal intimidation, based on a complaint by the woman.
Several women’s organisations and khap panchayats in Haryana had held protests seeking Singh’s removal from the cabinet.
The FIR was registered in Chandigarh where the purported crime took place under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force against woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354-A (sexual harassment), 354-B (assault or criminal force with intent to disrobe), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
After the FIR was lodged, the Chandigarh administration had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on January 1 headed by a woman Indian Police Service (IPS) officer. SIT had added Section 509 of the IPC in the FIR, another charge of insulting the modesty of a woman, according to report in The Hindustan Times.
Police have recorded complainant’s statements under section 164 Cr P C, examined witnesses from Haryana sports department and officials working at the residence of accused including security personnel and recorded their statements.
The investigation team questioned the accused for over 20 hours (January 8 and February 11) by posing at least 272 questions, police officials familiar with the matter said. But the investigation is yet to end, says the report.
The woman coach says that the suspension order was handed over to her at her residence on Monday evening, despite attending office that day.
“Yes, I have been suspended. Pressure is being mounted on me to hammer out a compromise (to withdraw the case). I have not been intimated the reasons for my suspension. I don’t know why they have taken this step. This is a yet another way for the government to pressurise me, but I am not going to yield,” she said, reports The Hindustan Times.
According to the complainant, she met Singh through Instagram and Snapchat, after which he asked her to meet him at his official residence in Chandigarh on March 2, 2022 and July 1, 2022 to verify her job-related documents and sexually molested her.
Singh has denied the allegations against him, calling them baseless. He was divested of the charge of sports and youth affairs portfolio a week after being booked but continues to hold the charge of printing and stationery department.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had earlier stated that “levelling allegations against someone and registration of an FIR because of that does not prove anyone guilty”.
Khattar also said that resigning from the minister’s post on moral grounds comes into play only if the person concerned thinks he has made a mistake.
