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Harassment complaints mount against Kerala ex-coach
The accused was arrested by the Cantonment police in Thiruvananthapuram on June 20 after receiving a complaint of sexual abuse from a minor girl whom he trained
The 40-year-old former district cricket coach in Thiruvananthapuram, currently in judicial remand after being booked under various sections of the Pocso Act last month, demanded naked photos from minor girls to ‘assess fitness as part of BCCI stipulations’ and frequently showed porn videos to the girls on his cellphone, survivors’ families and investigating officers told HT.
Manu M, who worked as a coach for girls in the Thiruvananthapuram chapter of the Kerala cricket association (KCA) for over 11 years, was arrested by the Cantonment police in Thiruvananthapuram on June 20 after receiving a complaint of sexual abuse from a minor girl whom he trained. Later, the police received complaints from five other minor girls, alleging a range of offences, on the basis of which separate FIRs were registered.
An autorickshaw driver, whose daughter was coached by the accused for the past two years, told HT that he approached the police to ensure that no other girl was exploited by him in the future. “He is cruel man who openly exhibits his sexual perversions with minor girls of even 8-years-old probably because he doesn’t fear the consequences. The exploitation is not limited to the six girls who have filed complaints, but many who have been coached by him over the years,” he said.
The survivor’s father said that the coach one day grabbed her from behind when she went to the washroom near the practice ground. He alleged that the accused also showed porn videos on his phone to her, asking if she wanted to do the same with him, and even once demanded naked photos of her from waist up as part of some process to assess “physique and fitness”.
“While my daughter declined, there are other girls who have been forced to share such pictures. It’s bizarre. Once he has the pictures, he uses them to blackmail the girls. Those like my daughter who say no find themselves out of the selection trials for tournaments and important games,” he said.
Nitin Nalan, one of the investigating officers, told HT: “Out of the six cases filed against him under IPC and Pocso sections, two are of grievous nature. He has been charged with raping two girls during a camp in Thenkasi in Tamil Nadu. He has confessed to raping one of the girls. We are gathering all evidence at this stage and will look to file the charge sheet soon.”
In one of the FIRs, accessed by HT, the accused has been booked under sections 354, 354A(1)(i), 354A(1)(iv) of the IPC and sections 7, 8, 9l, 9p, 10, 11(i), 11 (iii) and 12 of the Pocso Act.
The father of another girl, who has testified to the police in the case, demanded that the bank accounts of the accused, his wife and his friend Binu be probed by the police as they will point to evidence of them having collected bribes from parents of cricket aspirants in exchange for opportunities in games and competitions. “It is an organised racket. The accused and his friend Binu have routinely collected bribes from parents. If their accounts are checked to the dates of a month preceding the selection trials, the evidence can be found,” he said.
He alleged that a complaint was sent to the secretary of KCA via mail on May 16 to draw attention to the accused’s trips to Thenkasi with minor boys and girls without the presence of a lady coach but there was no response from the association.
However, Jayesh George, president of the KCA, refuted the allegations that it did not receive any complaint from parents of children regarding the current allegations against Manu. “We were informed by the police about the charges against Manu in June. But on April 22, he had resigned citing his wife’s job in a firm in Bengaluru and his intention to move there. We had asked him to serve one month’s notice to which he complied and left by the end of May.”
George said Manu’s trips to Thenkasi with the boys and girls were not official in nature. “They were not approved by the KCA or the district chapter. We were not aware of this. The parents themselves collected money for the transport and lodging for the trip. He was very close to them,” he said.
The KCA, he said, was in talks with an NGO in Kochi to provide classes and counselling about sexual harassment to its staff and the students. He added that the body has responded to the notice of the state human rights commission clarifying its stance on the allegations against the coach.
