HC denies bail to coach accused of sexually assaulting minor athlete in Faridabad

Accused absconding since January; police team sent to Mohali, phone switched off after FIR, officials said.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has rejected the anticipatory bail plea of a national junior pistol team shooting coach accused of sexually assaulting a minor athlete in a five-star hotel in Faridabad, observing that the allegations were serious and supported by strong evidence.

Court noted CCTV footage and call records backing victim’s claims; sessions court had also denied bail earlier. (Shutterstock)

The plea was dismissed on Tuesday by a bench of Justice Amarjot Bhatti after four hearings since January 31. Earlier, additional sessions judge Abhishek Phutela, a special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) court in Faridabad, had also rejected the coach’s anticipatory bail on January 23.

Inspector Maya, station house officer of the women’s police station (NIT), Faridabad, said a team was sent to Mohali on Wednesday to trace the accused. “His residence is in Mohali. Soon after we registered an FIR against him on January 6 in the case, he had switched off his mobile phone and had become traceless. He has been hiding since then,” she said.

She added that police have call detail records and CCTV footage from December 16 showing the accused with the victim. “The victim had alleged that the coach had accompanied her to the hotel portico to drop her till a cab, which was also corroborated from the CCTV camera footage,” she said.

The victim alleged she was called to a Surajkund hotel after a match at Tughlakabad and assaulted. An FIR was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) section 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and POCSO section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) on January 6.