The city police on Saturday arrested P. Nagarajan, 59, head coach of a sports academy, for sexually harassing girls whom he trained for athletic activities.
He was booked by All Women Police, Flower Bazaar, under five Sections of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) following a complaint from a 19-year-old girl whom he allegedly harassed sexually. Following the registration of the complaint, he swallowed sleeping pills and was admitted in the Government Royapettah Hospital. After being discharged from the hospital, he was arrested and taken to a court for remand.
When allegations of sexual harassment by his former trainees surfaced on social media, one of the victims, a 19-year-old girl, came forward to lodge the complaint. She said she was trained by him between 2013-2020 in Pachaiyappa’s School Grounds in Broadway. The girl alleged that she had joined his training programme and had been trained along with other girls. On many occasions, the coach sent the other girls away after the training session was over and asked her to stay back. According to the complaint, under the guise of providing physiotherapy, he allegedly touched her inappropriately.
The coach said that he would make her successful in athletics if she cooperated. When she resisted his advances, he stopped training her and also threatened to murder her and her family members if she created any trouble, she alleged. The coach also said he would “spoil her reputation” by ensuring that no other academy enrolled her. Fearing for her life and reputation, the girl remained silent for a few days. As he continued to slander her, her parents shifted her to another district for coaching, she said in her complaint.
