Goa swimming coach charged with rape for molesting teen athlete

Panaji: A swimming coach in Goa has been booked for the rape of a National Junior gold medallist after a purported video of the incident went viral on social media.

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has also stepped in and promised stringent action against the accused after a Twitter user tagged him with screenshots from the video, demanding his intervention.

Surajit Ganguly, who was employed by the Goa Swimming Association (GSA), was accused by the 15-year-old girl training under him of molestation, after he called her to the Mapusa centre in North Goa from West Bengal.

The girl has alleged that during her six months stay in Goa, she was mentally and physically tortured by him. The matter came to light after her parents, who went to Goa with her, noticed that her performances were dipping and she was avoiding Ganguly.

When pressed to reveal what happened, she broke down and narrated the ordeal to her parents. They immediately went back to Bengal and tried to file a police complaint.

The girl took to social media after the police station in her hometown showed reluctance in lodging a complaint on the grounds that the incident happened in Goa. "My coach used to touch me and physically assaulted me.

I have decided to reveal this because I want to save many other girls who may have gone through the same ordeal. Shockingly, when I went to the police station, they told me to lodge a complaint with the Goa police," she said in a Facebook post.

The GSA sacked the coach on Thursday. A case under IPC sections 376 (rape), 354 (molestation) and 506 (criminal intimidation), as well as under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and Goa Children's Act was registered against Ganguly who is yet untraceable, said inspector Kapil Nayak of Mapusa police station in Goa. In a series of tweets, Rijiju assured that strict action will be taken against Ganguly.

"I've taken a strong view of the incident. The Goa Swimming Association has terminated the contract of coach Surajit Ganguly.

I'm asking the Swimming Federation of India to ensure that this coach is not employed anywhere in India. This applies to all Federations & disciplines," he tweeted.

The GSA confirmed that Ganguly's contract has been terminated. "...we terminated Surajit's contract immediately after watching the video.

Both the girl and coach are from Bengal," GSA Secretary Syed Abdul Majid told PTI. Ganguly was appointed by the GSA about two and a half years ago for its Mapusa facility.

"We had appointed him because he had a good track record as a coach. There have been no prior complaints against him," he added.

In the year 2017, Goa Legislative Assembly had even moved a motion congratulating him along with other coaches for bringing "pride and glory to swimming and diving sports and to the State."

The West Bengal Police also has lodged the girl's complaint. "It is a serious matter. A complaint against the coach has been lodged by the girl's father.

We are investigating the matter and assured the family members that adequate action will be taken against the accused," Humayun Kabir, the police chief of Chandannagar, said.