AGNELO PEREIRA
MAPUSA
The Mapusa Police has filed a final report against former swimming coach Surajit Ganguly, who was arrested two months ago on charges of raping and molesting a 15-year-old girl who was training under him.
The investigating officer LPSI Vibha Volvoikar filed the 198-page chargesheet within the permissible period of 90 days.
The court has set November 20 as the first day of hearing in the case after filing of the chargesheet.
“The chargesheet has been filed before the Goa Children’s Court. It was presented within two months from the date the crime was reported,” a senior police officer said.
Police have added a stringent Section 376 (3) of the IPC in the crime after confirming that the victim girl was under the age of 16. The section entails life sentence for the accused.
The accused, who is presently in judicial custody, was booked under Sections 451 (trespass), 354 (outraging modesty), 376 (rape) and 506 (ii) (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, Section 8 of the Goa Children’s Act and Sections 6 and 8 of POCSO Act.
The minor girl was allegedly sexually harassed by the swimming coach in the residential complex in which she stayed.
The incident came to light after the victim shot a video of the coach molesting her and uploaded it on social media.
The girl’s father then lodged a complaint with the Rishra Police Station, Hoogly, in West Bengal.
In his complaint, he alleged that his daughter was sexually harassed by the swimming coach for almost six months between March and September this year. Police said that the victim girl in the presence of Victim Assistant Unit gave a graphic description of the ordeal she went through stating that on several occasions since March this year the accused was forcefully touching her inappropriately and even slipping his hand inside her undergarments.
Mapusa Police, who have mainly relied on the confession of the victim girl and the video, have examined 26 witnesses and also recorded statements during the investigation.
The alleged sexual harassment of the 15-year-old minor had evoked outrage after a prominent filmmaker uploaded the video on social media and tagged the Minister of State for Sports, Kiren Rijiju, seeking action against the coach.
“Stringent action will be taken through Sports Authority. Firstly, it’s a heinous crime of serious nature so I’ll urge the police to take stringent penal action against the coach urgently,” Rijiju had then tweeted in his reaction on the video.
The tainted swimming coach was expelled from the Goa Swimming Association (GSA) and Swimming Federation of India (SFI) soon after the video of him allegedly molesting the minor girl went viral on social media.
Incidentally, the swimming coach who was employed in the State was hailed for his dedicated service in the Goa Assembly.
