SAI’s inaction against erring coaches baffling

Is it any wonder then, that most parents would prefer their young girls to stay put at home and play for fun rather than take up serious sport and go to camps where they are hardly safe?

Late one midsummer evening in a Karnataka hill station called Madikeri, a teenaged girl was allegedly molested by her hockey coach. That was three years ago July 14, 1995 to be precise. The same year, in one of India’s most beautiful coastal destinations, Goa, there was a similar incident. Only difference was that it was an athletics coach this time.

Sports Authority of India’s bosses have all the complaints, they have even discussed the matter at length though no police cases have been registered — but no action is forthcoming. As one official said, “Either way, the decision should have been taken by now.”

In the first case, after the coach Dharampal Singh’s initial hush-up attempt reportedly bombed, an internal inquiry was ordered. And while that file gathers dust at the SAI’s headquarters in Delhi, Mr Coach has been transferred to Bangalore’s SAI centre. Though SAI bosses keep their answer simple — “We are looking into the matter,” the case proves more rivetting.

First, the factfile according to sources: The girl, aged about thirteen was then the vice-captain of the local hockey team and was staying at Madikeri’s SAI sports hostel. It was around 7 p.m when she had come out of her room to make a phone call. During the questioning, the victim has stated that the coach who was standing behind her while she making the call, grabbed her, after which the trouble started.

She says that she fell unconscious, and when she came around, she found it difficult to move. Though the coach, in his defence, says that he was never there (in the campus) when all this happened, there is apparently evidence to the contrary in the form of a signed statement by a few of her hostelmates.

These girls say that they had taken permission from the coach to make telephone calls that very evening. That would have been possible only if he was there.

It is believed that the SAI legal advisor, after studying the case, has said that the Director General of SAI has the go-ahead to sack the coach immediately. Quite expectedly, that view is endorsed by all who know of the case. But the dusty file remains open while the victim has reportedly started training again.

Meanwhile, the Goa file is equally murky, but the evidence in this case is less damning. The case, though, is similar, and the coach in question has allegedly done it twice — the first time in Goa, and the next in Gandhinagar where he is currently posted.

According to sources, the file notings say that the coach Jagwinder Singh had called a couple of his girl trainees over to his house. There are differing versions in this case. Some of the witnesses say that the coach’s wife was in the kitchen, while others say she was out in the verandah. The victim, in her statement, has reportedly said that the coach took her towards the bathroom and made her undress. What happened after that is unclear.

Add to it the inconsistency of the witnesses statement, and the coach seems safe. After this happened, the coach has been transferred to Gandhinagar.But the coach, in his late forties, has allegedly done it again in Gandhinagar. SAI Director Incharge of the Western Region, who is posted at Gandhinagar says he does not want to see Jagwinder’s face. The coach has obliged by hobbling away on medical leave — he is apparently afflicted by a nagging lower limb problem right now.

Anyway, the most striking thing about these two cases is that SAI has not taken any action. Surely, three years is long enough to think it over.In both these cases, the inquiry is internal. A police case has not been filed. Though the coaches are under “suspension,” it does not really mean much. In fact, as per the rules, they continue to draw 50 per cent of their usual salary too. And SAI insiders say that most of the suspended staff are taken back.

SAI’s laziness does not stop here. Some of the funnier cases are of the five coaches who seem to have packed up and scooted for a holiday while SAI is still searching. But there are also those troublesome ones too like the 14-odd cases where coaches and SAI are fighting court cases over piddly paychecks.

An interesting footnote is the case of State of Maharashtra vs Ms Shakuntala Khatavkar, a Kho Kho-Kabaddi coach of Grade III, where the case against the lady is of alleged murder.