MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court appreciated the state government’s plan to introduce a suitable legislation for the protection of women and girls taking part in sports, and expected that the government would enact the legislation as early as possible.
As introducing the legislation would take some time, the state has issued detailed guidelines as an interim measure, submitted state public prosecutor Hasan Mohammed Jinnah before Justice K K Ramakrishnan on Tuesday.
Earlier, the judge had directed the chief secretary to address the issue of protection of women and girls taking part in sports from sexual harassment, while upholding the conviction of a physical education teacher for sexually assaulting a girl student, whom he had accompanied for a sports event in 2018.
While dismissing the teacher’s appeal against his conviction, the judge came to know that the victim discontinued her studies and sports after the incident, and issued the above direction.
When the matter came up for reporting compliance, Jinnah appeared through video conference and submitted the state’s plan and the interim measures taken. Perusing the guidelines, the judge appreciated Jinnah and the chief secretary. Expressing hope that the legislation would be enacted soon, he posted the matter to July 21 for passing further orders.