The Delhi Commission for Women on Wednesday recommended registration of an FIR against Indian hockey captain Sardara Singh in an alleged sexual assault case after a British woman hockey player of Indian origin filed a complaint against him.
DCW chief Swati Maliwal also demanded that an FIR be registered against Punjab Police for failing to register the first information report (FIR) against Singh despite the woman alleging rape and assault in January 2016.
The woman has given us a complaint and alleged that she was physically assaulted by Singh and that there was an attempt to push her from the top floor of a five-star hotel in Delhi and that she was raped by Singh therein. We have recommended registration of an FIR against Singh to SHO Chanakyapuri police station (in Delhi).Swati Maliwal, Chief, Delhi Commission for Women
“Also, the law clearly states that if a woman says that she has been raped, police has to file an FIR. But the Punjab Police did not do so despite the woman approaching them and even upon revelation of cognisable offence. We demand that an FIR be registered against Punjab Police under section 166A of IPC for failing to register an FIR,” Maliwal said.
Justice should be delivered in a fast track manner, she added.
The Commission also issued a notice to Hockey India president Narinder Batra on Wednesday and sought an explanation with regard to the allegations made by the complainant against HI and the action taken or proposed to be taken by it in the matter.
The 21-year-old complainant was the first British-Asian woman to represent England in hockey in 2010 as part of their junior women’s team. She had filed a police complaint in February in Ludhiana following which an SIT was formed to probe the sexual harassment allegations. The SIT had given a clean chit to the Indian hockey team skipper.
Sardara has earlier denied all the allegations levelled against him, saying that the charges were ‘inappropriate’ and ‘false’.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)