CHENNAI: The Chennai Police is looking into an online complaint that has levelled allegations of sexual harassment against a coach of a sports academy in the city. The complaint is now pending before the Deputy Commissioner, Flower Bazaar police district.
No FIR has been registered yet but a senior police officer said they are looking into the complaint and attempting to reach out to the complainants.
Meanwhile, an office bearer of the Tamil Nadu Athletic Association also told The New Indian Express that they had received a complaint against the same coach in February and the coach in response had denied the allegations.
The issue surfaced on Wednesday after an independent sports journalist, TN Raghu, collated testimonies from former trainees of the coach and shared them in social media.
One of the testimonies read, "The coach has harassed me and other girls in the academy...We tried together to fight against him but couldn't succeed... Finally, we had to leave the academy to show our protest. The coach has taken the poverty of students as an advantage for all his misdeeds."
Another read, "One girl was forced to stay back after a training session and do whatever he says."
In February this year, a complaint was submitted by the father of a young athlete flagging the misconduct of the same coach to Tamil Nadu Athletic Academy (TNAA), a body which conducts events and selects athletes from such academies (called clubs) for nationals.
An office-bearer of the TNAA confirmed the receipt of the complaint to TNIE and said that an internal inquiry was initiated based on the complaint as the issue was serious.
"In a written reply, the coach refuted the allegations. He said he was being targeted as he pulled up the girl for misconduct," the office-bearer said, adding that the girl's demand seeking a transfer to a different academy was sanctioned.