International kabaddi medallist accuses coach of rape, extortion

A 27-year-old woman kabaddi player who has won an international medal for India has accused her coach of raping and extorting money from her, the Delhi Police said on Monday, days after protests by top wrestlers accusing officials of the sport’s governing body of sexually harassing women athletes

A 27-year-old woman kabaddi player who has won an international medal for India has accused her coach of raping and extorting money from her, the Delhi Police said on Monday, days after protests by top wrestlers accusing officials of the sport’s governing body of sexually harassing women athletes.

The accused runs a kabaddi academy in Delhi and has trained the complainant since 2012, said police.

The kabaddi coach threatened to upload the complainant’s intimate photographs on social media websites which prompted her to approach the police in Dwarka earlier this month, Harsh Vardhan, deputy commissioner of Delhi Police (Dwarka), said.

“We registered a case of rape and criminal intimidation against the coach, Joginder Singh, at Baba Haridas Nagar police station on Saturday,” Vardhan said, adding that the accused is on the run and has turned off his mobile phone.

On Monday, the police recorded the woman player’s statement under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The woman is an active player and works for the government, police officers said.

The accused runs a kabaddi academy in Hirankudna village in outer Delhi’s Mundka and has trained the complainant since 2012, said Vardhan.

“She told us that the coach forced her to establish sexual relations with him in March 2015,” said Vardhan, adding that their investigation has not yet established if the alleged sexual assault continued after 2015.

In 2018, the complainant was forced to transfer to the accused ₹43.5 lakh of the prize money she won in a competition, Vardhan said.

The woman got married in 2021, but the coach began threatening that he would leak her personal photographs, said Vardhan.

The case comes just over a fortnight after top wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, and world championships medallist Vinesh Phogat, accused Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and federation coaches of sexually harassing women players. The union sports ministry and the Indian Olympic Association have set up separate inquiry committees on the complaint.