Women’s safety has been a growing concern in recent times and cricket has also not been untouched by its impact. In one such crime, one of Mumbai’s local cricket coaches has been accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old trainee and has been reprimanded by a special court, according to a PTI report.
Women safety has been a growing concern in all regions of India. Women are not only unsafe on the roads, but concerns have increased as they are being harassed at workplaces, educational institutions, coaching institutes and other places.
One such outrageous incident caught the internet’s attention when Australian women’s cricketer Ashley Gardner and his wife were chased by some goons on their bike while the couple was out for a walk in the city. It attracted worldwide attention and was a moment of humiliation for the country.
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Local cricket coach accused of sexually harassing a trainee girl
One of the women’s cricket training facilities in Mumbai faced a treacherous truth as one of their coaches was accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old trainee girl on multiple occasions.
According to prosecution statements, the girl alleged that the accused sexually assaulted her when she was attending cricket coaching. Being a minor, the girl came to know that a case has been registered against the person Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.
The prosecution brought to light the physical trauma caused to the child after the repeated acts and produced all the medical reports and immediately filed the FIR. The prosecutor opposed the bail, claiming that the accused had tried to interfere with the prosecution’s evidence by tampering with the CCTV cameras of the designated area.
Defense lawyer pleads ‘not guilty’ despite allegations of evidence tampering
According to Indian law, the accused will be given a fair opportunity to defend himself, and hence the defense counsel took a similar step; However, this seemed irrelevant. The lawyer argued that his client was innocent and the victim had filed a false complaint.
He also said that the accused has been in custody for the last eight months since the complaint was filed. He claimed that he was the sole breadwinner of a family with starving parents.
The defense’s approach seemed clear: the accused was not guilty, and the rest of the decision was left to the special court.
The special court reprimanded the coach and called him an anti-social element.
A special court headed by Justice Surekha Sinha on Thursday heard the case under the POCSO Act and refused to grant bail to the accused coach as the accused is likely to be involved in a similar crime that could ruin the lives of many more minor girls.
POCSO is one of the harshest sections in our judiciary, and the judge too, after hearing the statements and claims of both the parties, said that the nature of the crime was serious and also accepted the prosecution’s claims of tampering with evidence by the accused.
The court said, “If the accused is released on bail in this situation, there is a possibility of the crime being repeated with minor girls and the accused also absconding.” The court said that it is not appropriate to release him on bail in this situation.
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