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This is an archive article published on February 4, 2016
SIT to investigate sexual harassment charge, Sardar Singh says not engaged
He said he had not seen the police complaint and was concentrating on the matches in the Hockey India League.
3 min read
Sardar Singh
A day after a hockey player from the UK filed a written complaint alleging sexual harassment charges against national hockey captain Sardar Singh, Ludhiana Police Commissioner P S Umranangal constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case.
Sardar Singh, who arrived in Chandigarh Wednesday to play for Jaypee Punjab Warriors ahead of Thursday’s match against Uttar Pradesh Wizards, said he was not engaged to the 21-year-old woman and would respond further on the matter after consulting his lawyer.
He said he had not seen the police complaint and was concentrating on the matches in the Hockey India League. “I have just come after playing a game last night and I am concentrating on the next game,” he said at Chandigarh Airport.
Read | Sardar Singh accused of sexual harassment, police complaint filed
When asked if he was engaged to the woman as she had alleged in the complaint, Sardar Singh replied, “I was not engaged (to the complainant).” The 29-year-old Indian captain, who belongs to Sirsa in Haryana, is also a Deputy Superintendent of Police with Haryana Police.
Speaking to The Indian Express, ADCP-4 Atwal said the SIT will summon both the woman and Sardar Singh. “Since the matter concerns a woman, a woman officer has been attached with the SIT. It is only after the SIT investigation that a decision will be taken over whether an FIR should be registered in the case. As of now, these are all the allegations made by the woman in her complaint.”
The complainant said she would move court if “she fails to get justice”.
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“If the police fail to act on my complaint and the investigation is not done in a fair manner, as the opposite party is an influential personality and an international hockey player, I will move court. Justice has to be done as I have suffered for four years. After sexually exploiting me for several times, Sardar Singh left me in midway. I even got an abortion done against my will. I have been harassed physically, emotionally and mentally,” she told The Indian Express.
The woman, based out of London, claimed she had met Sardar Singh during the 2012 London Olympics and got engaged in 2014 but after she got pregnant and got abortion done, he started ignoring her.
The woman has claimed that they got engaged after their meetings at Bhaini Sahib in Ludhiana as families from both sides are followers of this religious sect.
Sardar Singh’s Sirsa-based family also denied that he was engaged to the girl and said the complaint was an effort to malign the national captain’s image.
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“There has been no engagement ceremony between the two. Yes, she visited our home and also spent time with Sardar’s mother. But she came alone and we treated her as our guest. We also went to some gurdwaras with her and she also got her pictures clicked with all the family members. We are very disappointed about this episode. Sardar is a responsible person and if there was some engagement ceremony somebody would at least know about it. But nobody in the family knows,” his father Gurnam Singh said over phone from Sirsa.
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