Sandeep Singh, the sports minister for Haryana, has been arrested by the Chandigarh police after a female junior athletics coach filed a complaint alleging that he had harassed her sexually.
Police said a case under Sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354B (Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at the Sector 26 police station on Saturday.
The female coach said on Thursday that Singh, a former hockey captain and BJP MLA from Pehowa in Kurukshetra, engaged in sexual assault when she visited his official residence in Chandigarh. Singh is also a former captain of the Indian hockey team.
She met senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manisha Choudhary and superintendent of police (SP, city) Shruti Arora when she went to the Chandigarh police headquarters on Friday.
However, the minister rejected the accusation as baseless and demanded an impartial investigation.
The woman, who was posted as a junior coach in September of 2022, said “I have full faith in the Chandigarh police and was assured a fair inquiry”.
She was also selected for the government’s outstanding sports person scheme and competed in the Rio Olympics.