Aspiring Puducherry cricketer accuses senior player cum coach of sexually harassing her

PUDUCHERRY: A senior cricket player cum coach in Puducherry has been booked on charges of sexually harassing a 16-year-old girl, who aspires to become a cricketer.
Police also booked four representatives of the Cricket Association of Pondicherry (CAP), which engages coaches to hold training sessions, on charges of failing to report the crime to the competent authorities.
The Mettupalayam police said ChildLine had forwarded a complaint lodged by the girl accusing senior player cum coach Thamaraikannan of harassing her by touching her shoulders, back and chest despite raising stiff opposition. She said she had brought the issue to the knowledge of four representatives of CAP but none of them had taken any initiative to prevent Thamaraikannan from harassing her.
She said Thamaraikannan had messaged her stating that he loved her and threatened that he would not train her if she rejected his proposal.
She said Thamaraikannan, on learning about her intention to lodge a complaint, had met her at her home with his wife and pressurized her not to lodge a complaint. But she went ahead and lodged a complaint with ChildLine, which forwarded the complaint to he Mettupalayam police following which the police booked Thamaraikannan and four others under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012 and began investigations.
Dismissing all charges as false allegations, CAP secretary Chandru said the girl had not lodged any complaint of sexual harassment against anyone to the association but her mother lodged a complaint against Thamaraikannan accusing him of misconduct. Chandru said the association had conducted a high-level inquiry and banned Thamaraikannan from playing cricket for one year.