Haryana Sports Minister Sandeep Singh booked for sexual harassment

Chandigarh Police have booked Haryana Sports Minister Sandeep Singh on charges of sexual harassment and wrongful confinement on the complaint of a woman coach, police said on Sunday.

The FIR against the BJP leader, who is also a former Indian hockey team captain, was filed on Saturday, they said.

”In the matter of complaint made by a lady coach of Haryana against Sports Minister Haryana, a case FIR dated 31.12.2022 under Sections 354, 354A, 354B, 342, 506 of the IPC has been registered at Police Station Sector 26, Chandigarh, and is being investigated,” a police spokesperson said.

A junior athletics coach from the state had on Thursday come up with allegations of sexual harassment against the minister and filed a police complaint a day later. The woman was allegedly harassed by Sandeep Singh at his residence-cum-camp office in Chandigarh, where she had gone to meet him for some official work.

The minister, however, has dismissed the charge as baseless and has called for an independent probe.