Allegations do not make one Haryana guilty CM Khattar defends Sandeep Singh in sexual assault row

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Chandigarh: The allegations do not make a person guilty, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Tuesday in his first public statement on the sexual assault charges Sandeep Singh, a minister in his cabinet, is facing. currently facing.

Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, Khattar called the allegations absurd. A player has made absurd allegations against the Sports Minister (Sandeep Singh), but he is not yet guilty. In the meantime, we have relieved him of his duties, so that the investigation can proceed smoothly. We will await the end of the investigation, he added.

The woman accused Singh, a former Indian hockey captain who inspired the Soorma movement, of trying to rape her in July last year.

While Singh denied the allegations, he stepped down from the Sports Ministry, although he remains Minister of Printing and Stationery.

Despite Khattars’ position, opposition parties, women’s rights organizations and at least one caste council have called for Singh’s immediate removal. , a khap representative who attended the meeting told the media, adding that they wanted the minister arrested immediately.

Meanwhile, the woman who made the allegations has appeared before a Special Investigation Team (SIT) which is investigating the allegations.

Also Read: Haryana Minister Sandeep Singh, Hockey Captain Who Inspired Soorma, Sentenced for Sexual Harassment

Influencing the investigation

Critics of the Khattar government say the government’s decision to let Singh continue in the cabinet could be detrimental to the investigation.

As the controversy raged, National Vice President of Indian Association of Democratic Women (AIDWA), Jagmati Sangwan, wrote an open letter to the newly elected President of Indian Olympic Association, PT Usha, about the ‘incident.

Sangwan, a former international volleyball player who was part of the 1982 Asian Games contingent with Usha, called on her to help protect vulnerable female athletes from men in positions of power.

Singh, the letter said, was using his position of power to influence the justice process and had asked the chief of police to set up an SIT to examine the plaintiff’s character—a classic (sic) victim-blaming case.

The minister is using the machinery of government to harass the complainant in every way possible and plainclothes police have been asked to follow her movements, the letter says.

The state Women’s Commission called the plaintiffs’ accusations not credible simply based on their interaction with the accused minister and without ever speaking to the victim, she said.

This particular case does not concern only one sportswoman but is a reflection of the functioning of the entire sports apparatus of our country, indicates the letter.

As President of the IOA and as a distinguished female athlete, I request your intervention in this matter by pushing for the immediate removal of the accused from all government positions to allow for a fair (sic) investigation into the case and to ensure that the victim obtains justice, wrote Sangwan. This will send a very important message that while the IOA is committed to meeting the sporting needs of sportswomen in India, it is also committed to ensuring their mental, physical and social well-being.

Meanwhile, Congressman Deepender Hooda told reporters that a fair investigation could only be assured after Singh was removed from the cabinet. A fair investigation cannot be assured when there is government influence in the matter. This is only possible when the accused is removed from cabinet, Hooda told the media.

(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)

Also Read: Ten Years After Nirbhaya’s Rape Laws Changed, Then Came Disha, Shahdara, Bulandshahr

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