A horrifying story of sexual harassment of female cricketers in Kerala (many of whom are minors) has brought the state’s cricket association to the forefront.
Six girls filed accusations against Coach M. Manu with the police, putting him in judicial custody under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses) Act.
The pivotal juncture of the story
Manu’s appointment as one of the Kerala Cricket League’s coaches by the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) was the turning point in this case. He had been accused of sexual harassment in the past but is still working as a coach. This horrified the girl, who had been harassed by him in the past and had moved to a different state. In one POCSO case, the victim allegedly altered her story, leading to his acquittal. The girl who attended the KCA tournament this time complained. Many more soon followed suit.
It was supposedly for six years that he had been abusing girls. Parents of the trainees are dissatisfied with the KCA’s handling of the situation because of this. They believe that after allegations against Manu appeared, he shouldn’t have been permitted to coach girls.
A parent of one of the victim girls told The Hindu, “Manu is a habitual offender and used his position as a coach to sexually assault minors.” He was constantly manipulating and grooming kids to satisfy his erotic appetites. He took advantage of the kids’ enthusiasm for the game by telling them that to succeed, they would need to work with him.
“He would sneak the victims to the gymnasium to engage in obscene actions while practice was taking place at the KCA headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram.”
“He was fully aware that the only areas without CCTV were the restroom and fitness center.”
Read More: IPL Orange cap winner 2024
KCA’s role in this case
“The KCA is shielding him because he is associated with a cricket club owned by a KCA official. Despite concerns, the KCA did not take any action against Manu. The KCA’s claim that it was unaware of the problem until police arrived to investigate is incorrect.”
The association has come under heavy criticism for its lack of action against the coach and for keeping quiet even after Manu was taken into custody by the police for the POCSO offense.
At a press conference, KCA president Jayesh George and secretary Vinod S. Kumar denied protecting the offender and said the organization was working with the Kerala police.
Does KCA really have nothing to do with it?
Talking to the Hindu correspondent Vinod S. Kumar, responded to the claims against him and the KCA, claiming that the organization is being unfairly persecuted.
“The KCA became aware of the matter only after Kerala Police visited the KCA headquarters as part of their investigation,” Vinod said.
“The KCA appointed M. Manu only after he was exonerated by the Kerala High Court. When the police case was first registered against him, many parents had given a statement to the police that the complaint was a fabricated one and it was alleged that the complainant was acting in vengeance after failing at selection trials. We appointed him for the second time following many requests from parents,” he added.
The secretary stated that Manu had resigned and served his notice period, but the KCA was forced to name him as a coach for the Pink tournament because no other competent coaches were available.
“It was merely a stop-gap arrangement,” he said. “The allegation that KCA is protecting Manu because he is the coach of my club is baseless. He was never part of the coaching setup of my club. It is true that he represented my club as a player for a while but also played for other clubs before he became a coach.”
“It is a bid to tarnish me, and these allegations are made by people with vested interests. These people have tried to derail the Kerala Cricket League by approaching the prospective bidders to withdraw from the auction and even contacted actor Mohanlal and asked him to stay away from the KCL.”
Vinod claimed that the KCA had taken action to prevent similar occurrences in the future. “The association would have taken action if the survivor had approached us directly, but she contacted the Childline, and the KCA came to know of it only after police visited the premises for gathering evidence,” he said.
“The earlier complaint was instigated by people who want to destroy the KCA.”
Vinod mentioned that Manu would be assisted by a female coach. “Surveillance cameras were replaced with high-resolution ones, and the entire area came under surveillance,” he said. “However, the cameras couldn’t be installed inside the gym and toilets for obvious reasons. We had also made it mandatory for parents to be present at the premises during training.”
Impact of such cases
Cases like these show that on grassroots levels, players have to suffer a lot and there is no one to help them. Such incidents demotivate young talents to take on any sport as well as fill them with a sense of helplessness (which even leads to suicides) due to the lack of action against the accused. As a result, young girls could start to avoid choosing a career in sports; however, this is not the first and last incident in the same field. But this could become a marquee incident to set an example that someone who commits such a heinous crime shall be put behind bars. This is the only way girls in our country can see sports as a safe career option.
