Sexual Harassment Case: Haryana Minister Sandeep Singh Resigns from Sports Portfolio

GG News Bureau

Chandigarh, 2nd Jan. Based on a complaint filed by a junior athletics coach on Friday, the Chandigarh police department filed a sexual harassment and criminal intimidation case against Haryana Sports Minister Sandeep Singh today.

The minister has handed over his portfolio to the Chief Minister, and denounced the accusations as an effort to “damage his image”.

“There is an attempt to spoil my image. I hope there will be a thorough investigation into the false allegations levelled against me. I hand over the responsibility of the Sports department to the Chief Minister until the report of the investigation comes out,” he said.

The woman held a press conference at the office of the opposition party Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which has demanded that the government of Manohar Lal Khattar immediately fire Sandeep Singh and form a Special Investigation Team to look into the matter. She claimed that the minister harassed her on social media from February to November of last year. He inappropriately touched her and threatened her in messages, she claimed, adding that she had to leave social media due to the constant harassment.

Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, a senior Congress leader, has also called for an impartial investigation into the matter.

According to the complainant, Mr Singh first saw her at a gym and then contacted her on Instagram.

The minister later kept insisting that they meet up, she said. “He messaged me on Instagram and said my national games certificate is pending and wanted to meet in this regard,” she added.

“Unfortunately, my certificate has been misplaced by my federation and I have been taking it up with the authorities concerned.”

The woman claimed she agreed to meet him at his residence-cum-camp office here with some other documents she had, and that when she arrived, the minister engaged in sexual misconduct.

Sandeep Singh, the sitting BJP MLA from Pehowa in Kurukshetra, is also a professional field hockey player who served as captain of the Indian national team.

Singh was the subject of a biopic titled ‘Soorma,’ which was released in 2018 and starred popular Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh. He was also a judge on the MTV Roadies reality show.

He became famous after a miraculous recovery from a gunshot wound when he was 20 years old.

Singh was accidentally shot on board a train to Delhi by an assistant sub-inspector of the Railways Police Force, just two days before the 2007 Hockey World Cup, rendering him paralyzed from the waist down for a year.