Hockey sex scandal: Kaushik withdraws, videographer sacked

New Delhi, Jul 21 (PTI) Rattled by allegations of sexual
harassment, Indian women's hockey coach M K Kaushik Wednesday
withdrew from the team's upcoming tours even as Hockey India
sacked the videographer Basavraj whose photographs with a
prostitute plunged the game into a moral crisis.
Kaushik has withdrawn himself from the Asian Champions
Trophy in Korea from July 27 pending an inquiry into the sex
scandal by a four-member panel comprising Rajiv Mehta
(chairman), former players Zafar Iqbal and Ajit Pal Singh and
Sudharsan Pathak.
"I must talk to the coach and the girl who has made the
allegations of sexual harassment separately. Mr Kaushik has
withdrawn his name because he wants his name to be cleared,"
HI President Vidya Stokes told reporters.
"In the meanwhile, the assistant coach will travel with
the team. Hopefully, everything would be sorted out by today,"
she said.
"We will have to look for a new coach and that would be
done after consulting the Sports Authority of India," added
HI's Secretary General Narinder Batra.
HI will also form a five-member committee as per Supreme
Court guidelines on sexual harrasment cases.
"As per the guidelienes laid down by the Supreme Court,
we will have a panel in which at least half or more than half
the members would be women. This would be done by tomorrow and
hopefully it would give its recommendations before next
month's World Cup in Argentina so that we can either have
a new coach or reinstate Kaushik if he is found innocent,"
Batra said.
Batra said he received an anonymous mail last Friday, in
which allegations had been levelled against Basavraj for
having been involved with prostitutes during the tours of
Canada and China.
He said five photographs of the videographer with the
prostitutes had also been mailed to him. Batra said the Sport
Ministry has been apprised of the complaints.
"The inquiry committee was constituted soon after I got a
mail from the hockey team. After a meeting on July 19, it was
decided that the videographer should be suspended and the rest
of staff against whom the allegations have been made should be
issued notices," he said. More PTI SSC
MRD


The information contained in this electronic message and any attachments to this
message are intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s) and may contain
proprietary, confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended
recipient, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify
the sender immediately and destroy all copies of this message and any attachments
contained in it.