Female athlete accuses co-player of rape under pretext of marriage at Bhopal's SAI centre

Bhopal: A 25-year-old woman sportsperson from Haryana has alleged that a co-player from her state raped her under the pretext of marriage during their stay at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Ratibad locality in Bhopal from 2013 till January 2017, police said on Wednesday.

The woman who lodged the complaint in Rohtak Mahila Thana recently, which was later transferred to Ratibad police station, stated that she and the accused used to live in the SAI academy after they got the admission in 2013, according to police.

She stated that the accused “lured” her into having physical relations with him under the pretext of marriage and later shot a video of the act, but later reneged on his promise, an officer said.

An FIR under section 376 (punishment for rape) was registered recently in Rohtak and the case diary was transferred to Ratibad police station since the SAI centre comes under its jurisdiction, Ratibad police station in-charge Ashok Gautam told PTI on Wednesday.

“The case diary of this FIR was sent here yesterday by Rohtak’s women police station. As per the case diary, the woman and the fellow player had been in touch with each other for the past three years. She said the accused lured her into having physical relations under the pretext of marriage,” Gautam said.

He said both the players got the admission in the SAI centre in 2013 to undergo training for their respective games.

They returned to Rohtak after completion of their training in January 2017, the officer said.

“The woman complained that the accused, who was in possession of the video, continued to pressurise her into having physical relations even after they returned to Rohtak. He had also sent the video to her,” Gautam said.

The complainant said the accused is now refusing to marry her.

“The case diary was sent to Bhopal after the woman complained to Haryana chief minister that Rohtak police have failed to take any action. We have forwarded the case diary to the crime branch for further investigation,” he said, adding that a woman police officer would conduct the further investigation into the case.