After becoming friends through social media, Indian hockey skipper Sardar Singh met the British national for the first time after the 2012 London Olympics, and the series of meetings during his extended stay in London laid the foundation of their relationship.
Again, it was in Europe that both Sardar and the woman made their relationship public. During the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, they disclosed their relationship and were quite open about it during media interviews.
The British woman was seen wearing Sardar’s No 8 jersey and supporting the India team from the stands during the Glasgow Games, where India finished second.
Since then, she has made several visits to India and both have regularly been posting photographs on social media. The duo even visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar and Sardar also took her to his native village Sant Nagar in Sirsa district (Haryana).
The woman was also present during the Champions Trophy held in India in 2014.
It was again in Europe where they called off the relationship. During the World Hockey League semifinal in Antwerp, Belgium, the woman joined the Indian team and, in the team hotel, had an argument with Sardar, which turned ugly and police was called. Later, after the team management intervened was the case resolved. Since then, both have hardly been in touch.
Strangely, it was during this time --- when the India team was in Belgium (July, 2015) --- that the woman announced their marriage on Twitter: “Such an amazing day with @8_SardarSingh . Excited to finally have confirmed the date we will be officially tying the knot. #weddingbells.” Sardar re-tweeted the message.
{{/usCountry}}Strangely, it was during this time --- when the India team was in Belgium (July, 2015) --- that the woman announced their marriage on Twitter: “Such an amazing day with @8_SardarSingh . Excited to finally have confirmed the date we will be officially tying the knot. #weddingbells.” Sardar re-tweeted the message.
{{/usCountry}}But in August last year, Sardar, though teammate Rupinderpal Singh’s Twitter account, tweeted a video about his absence from the social media, telling everyone not to subscribe to his account.
In her complaint to the Ludhiana police, the woman has stated that she got engaged to Sardar and now he was running away from marriage. The woman has also alleged that she got pregnant and was forced to go for abortion.
On the other hand, Sardar has maintained that he has never taken advantage of her. He has also denied that they ever got engaged. Sardar has even rubbished the abortion allegations, saying that, “It’s false.”
The Ludhiana police has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to look into the complaint.