India hockey player Varun Kumar accused of rape, booked under POCSO act
Bengaluru, Feb 6: Indian Hockey player Varun Kumar has been booked under POCSO Act after a woman accused him of rape on multiple occasions promising to marry her, police said on Tuesday.
The woman, who currently works as an airline staff, claimed she was 17 years-old when she came in contact with Kumar, an Arjuna awardee, in 2018 while he was training at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) here.
In the FIR, the woman alleged that Kumar approached her through Instagram and insisted on meeting her. He kept messaging her to meet but when she did not respond, he also asked his friends to convince her to meet him. When she met him, he expressed his liking towards her. They remained friends and slowly got into a relationship.
In July 2019, he took her out on the pretext of talking about their future to a hotel in Bengaluru's Jayanagar and made physical relationship with her despite being aware that she was a minor. She resisted but he promised to take their relationship a step further and marry her later.
"She accused him of getting physical with her on several occasions over the five-year long relationship she shared with him on the pretext of marriage." the FIR stated.
Later, he started distancing himself from her and stopped responding to her calls and messages. He even threatened to upload her photos on social media if she exerted pressure on him for marriage. She also accused him of cheating her, according to the FIR.
"Based on the complaint received from the woman, we have registered a case on Monday against the Hockey player under appropriate section of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and sections 376 (rape) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code," a senior police officer said.
Kumar, who hails from Himachal Pradesh, made his debut for India in 2017. The Himachal Pradesh government had also announced an award of Rs one crore for Kumar after the Indian men's Hockey team won the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He was also part of the Indian team that won silver in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
