Five women shooters, including a minor, have filed an FIR against a 38-year-old coach of the Rajasthan Rifle Association (RRA), alleging rape and sexual harassment for the past three years, officials aware of the matter said on Tuesday.
The complaint was filed at the Malviya Nagar police station in Jaipur. “On Tuesday, the joint secretary of the RRA Mahipal Singh along with the five victims filed the complaint in Malviya Nagar police station under sections 376 (rape) and relevant sections of POCSO,” said an officer.
spo. The 10 complaints have not been officially registered yet.
“One of the five complainants levelled the rape allegation in the FIR so far, while four others alleged sexual harassment while exerting career-oriented pressure on the athletes. However, rest of the details cannot be disclosed at this moment as further investigation is underway,” said DCP Jaipur (East) Gyan Chand Yadav said.
The coach has been harassing women shooters for over three years by threatening to put their careers at risk, officials said.
“The accused has a rifle showroom in Mirza Ismail Road from where he supplies weapon to the shooters of the association, as per the contract with the association. However, taking advantage of it, he had been molesting the women athletes threatening to take their weapons away ahead of any national and international tournaments,” said the officer cited above.
The police also added that the coach used to send them indecent messages on WhatsApp and forced them to come to the shooting range alone for practice sessions.
Coach stands suspended
One of the victims had also filed a complaint of “sexual harassment” against the coach with the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) on Sep 18. NRAI set up an internal complaints committee (ICC) to inquire into the matter. An NRAI official said it also “requested Sports Authority of India to suspend the coach since he was a SAI-appointed coach in Jaipur ranges (OASES Shooting Range).”
“On September 25, SAI asked RRA to bar the coach from entering Jaipur ranges,” said an NRAI official.
Meanwhile, NRAI ICC has held three meetings and three female shooters have recorded their statements. The coach was show caused and asked to appear before the panel but he is yet to appear before the committee.
“The moment the matter was brought to NRAI’s attention an internal complaints committee was formed to look into the matter. So far, three meetings of ICC have been held and the girls have submitted their complaint to the committee along with audio recording and WhatsApp messages. SAI has already suspended the coach,” said the NRAI official.
The victims had first complained to the state association — RRA — but reached out to NRAI since no action was taken by RRA. NRAI has formed a disciplinary committee and a “show cause notice was sent to RRA regarding failure to address the grievance of the victim shooter by RRA.”
NRAI has sought a detailed report from RRA on the matter.