Bhopal, August 05 (Pervez Bari): The slur of sexual abuse and harassment continues to plague Indian sports and hit news headlines. After the Indian Women Hockey was hounded with sleaze charges being levelled against its chief coach, a scandal has come to fore in women’s hockey in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
This time round Ms Madhuri Sharma, the sacked Assistant Administrator of Gwalior-based Madhya Pradesh Women’s Hockey Academy, apparently to pressurize has flung charges of sexual advances against Dr. Vinod Pradhan, the Joint Director in Madhya Pradesh Department of Sports and Youth Welfare.
However, Vinod Pradhan has dismissed as “baseless, false and inspired by ill-feeling” all charges levelled against him by Ms Sharma. While talking to newspersons a visibly rattled by the cooked up charges Pradhan claimed the allegations are baseless and loaded with malicious intention.
”She has claimed that the incident occurred on September 28, 2009. Why she has remained silent till now?” he thundered.
Pradhan explained he had been asked to inquire into certain financial irregularities committed by Ms Sharma — who had been appointed on contract as basketball coach in 2006 — in the Hockey Academy where she was given additional charge of Assistant Administrator in 2007.
He said he was inspecting documents in the presence of District Sports Officer Jameel Ahmed and Assistant Sports Officer Rajesh Likhar in the District Sports Office on September 28, 2009.
”In the process, Ms Sharma reached office with her father and threatened him not to conduct investigation. The matter was informed to the Sports Director,” Pradhan said.
He said that the entire chain of events was immediately brought to the notice of higher ups and the government by him orally and in writing on September 29, 2009 and on being found guilty of the charges of financial irregularities Madhvi Sharma was relieved of the additional charge of Assistant administrator Hockey academy by the Government.
He said that a three-member committee that included a woman sports officer was formed on October 29, 2009 to look after the different complaints against Madhvi and that she was sacked from her services on the basis of the report filed by this committee.
The Sports department has initiated recovery of Rs 2.35 lakh from Sharma, Pradhan revealed.
Pradhan said he was ready for any kind of investigation. ”If found guilty I would resign from the job. If the charges are not found true then Sharma should be punished,” he asserted.
Replying to a query Pradhan said he would be filing defamation suit soon against Ms Sharma.
Sports Director Sanjay Chaudhary has also come out in defense of Pradhan. He said Ms Sharma’s services had been terminated on the charges of financial bungling.
“Only after Ms Sharma was terminated and she saw that there was no hope of her reinstatement that she levelled some charges against me,” Pradhan said.
”Moreover, sports certificate submitted by Sharma on her contractual appointment has been found to be forged. This was confirmed by Madhya Pradesh Basketball Association and Indian Basketball Federation,” Pradhan said.
Meanwhile, Pradhan claimed that police cases are registered against Ms Sharma’s brother in Gwalior for kidnapping a woman player of the Academy from Chhatarpur and keeping her in captivity for three days besides on the charges of stealing a car and a firing incident in a market. (pervezbari@eth.net)