Raipur: A group of woman powerlifters from the state has accused the Chhattisgarh Powerlifting Association General Secretary Krishna Sahu of sexually harassing them, a charge denied by him.
They also alleged that he had demanded money for issuing national certificates to them and recommending their names for state level sports awards.
"General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh Powerlifting Association Krishna Sahu asks for sexual favours from players and passes lewd comments at them. It has been going since the last several years," a female powerlifter said.
Asked to respond to these allegations, Krishna Sahu vehemently denied everything.
"I don't know who is behind this. I have requested the police to find out who is slandering my name. These are all fake. Most of the girls who have levelled fake charges against me face a ban after getting caught during the doping test and it seems they took this step due to frustration," Sahu said.
"The girls, all coming from poor and humble backgrounds are scared to speak against Sahu, but now we cannot keep our mouth shut anymore," the female powerlifter said.
All the girls, most of them tribals, claimed that Sahu had allegedly misbehaved and molested them on several occasions during selection trials for the team. He had also allegedly demanded money from players on several occasions.
"I am the youngest of most of the players and I have seen it for the last three years. I was surprised once when he (Sahu) asked Rs 15,000 from me for giving my national certificate to me," another female powerlifter said.
Another senior female powerlifter alleged Sahu had sought Rs 35,000 for recommending her name for the Shaheed Kaushal Yadav award few years ago.
"I paid a share of the cash prize that I had received with the award," she said.
During the 2011 Senior National Powerlifting Championship held in Bhilai, Sahu had allegedly demanded money from all of them and threatened to implicate them for doping when they refused.
"During the senior national event, Sahu had demanded Rs 21,000 from medal winners and Rs 11,000 from contestants. Being from poor families, we requested him to give the money after the tournament for which he threatened us to implicate us for doping. We were also not provided rooms to stay during that event," she said.
The incident came to light when, around 12 national level powerlifters from Chhattisgarh from Dallirajhra region of Balod district levelled different charges, including sexual harassment, molesting, demanding bribe against Sahu before the local media on Thursday in Raipur.
Their male colleague Dilbagh Singh, a national level powerlifter, who accompanied them to Raipur said that they were unable to narrate what Sahu had been doing to them for the last several years.
"He keeps on threatening them saying they are tribals and cannot do anything," Dilbagh Singh said.
On being asked if they would complain to government authorities, Singh said, "The girls plan to lodge a police complaint soon. They will also knock at the doors of the State Women's Commission".
Meanwhile, the Chhattisgarh State Women's Commission has assured suitable action. "We came to know about the incident through the media today and we will take appropriate action," Chhattisgarh State Women's Commission secretary Jagrani Ekka told
