VIJAYAWADA: Five women kabaddi players and Krishna district kabaddi association secretary lodged a complaint with the Vijayawada police, on Friday, against the AP Kabaddi Association state secretary V Veera Lankaiah accusing him of sexual harassment and selling Form-2 certificates. Following the complaint, Vijayawada police summoned the secretary for questioning. “We will question both parties over the issue before taking action,” deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Gajarao Bhupal said. Form-2 is a certificate issued by the sports association authenticating a person’s achievement in a particular sport, which is required to apply for government jobs under sports quota.
The players--P Sunitha and her namesake, KLV Ramana, S Goutami and P Dhana Lakshmi--and Krishna Kabaddi Association Secretary Yalamanchili Srikanth alleged that Veera Lankaiah had sold about 30 Form-2 certificates for lakhs of rupees and demanded sexual favours from the women players who approached him regarding the issuance of the certificate.
“His acts are affecting employment prospects of women kabaddi players in the state. When we applied for Form-2 certificates, he insulted and asked us to fulfil his demands,” the five kabaddi players said.
Addressing the media on Thursday, P Sunitha, who has played for the national team, said she was selected for a job in the Railways, but when she approached Veera Lankaiah for Form-2, he demanded that she either pay him or ‘come to my house’.
Srikanth added that the Kabbadi Association Secretary had sexually harassed women players in the past and was also behind the death of a sportsperson in 1995. “He has been in the post of the secretary for two decades, which is against the rules. He should be removed from the post,” he demanded.