Indian hockey player Varun Kumar has been accused of allegedly raping a minor under the pretext of marriage, leading to an FIR being registered against him in Bengaluru, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Assault (POCSO) Act.
The complainant has said that they first got in touch in 2019 via Instagram, while the hockey team was training at the Sports Authority of India’s Bengaluru centre, on the same campus where the victim, selected as a 16-year-old for a volleyball coaching scheme of SAI in Jnanabharathi, Bengaluru, was also training.
The victim claimed that the Arjuna Award winner had promised to marry her and had been in physical relations with her when she was just 17.
In her complaint, the woman said that 5 years ago, she was taken to Jayanagar under the pretext of a night dinner, leading to forced physical contact. Additionally, she mentioned that Varun visited her house and consoled her after her father’s death a year ago. Varun, who made his debut in 2017 and plays for the Punjab Warriors, is currently part of India’s 24-member squad for the upcoming FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24, set to begin on February 10. India’s first match of the season is against Max Caldas’s Spain.
Hailing from Himachal Pradesh but residing in Punjab’s Jalandhar, Varun is currently on the run, prompting officials to launch a search for him.
The Himachal Pradesh government had previously announced a prize of Rs 1 lakh for him after the Indian Hockey team won the bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics.