Hockey player Varun Kumar booked on rape charges
Was appointed DSP in Punjab Police two days ago, CM Mann had given him job letter; the case has been registered under IPC sections of 376 (rape) and 420 (cheating) and other POCSO sections on the complaint of 21-year-old woman, who accused Kumar of exploiting her physically for five years on the pretext of the marrying her before allegedly snapping ties with her
Two days after being appointed as deputy superintendent of police, hockey Olympian Varun Kumar has been booked under the stringent POCSO act by the Bengaluru police after a woman accused the defender of sexually abusing her multiple times when she was a minor.
The case has been registered under IPC sections of 376 (rape) and 420 (cheating) and other POCSO sections on the complaint of 21-year-old woman, who accused Kumar of exploiting her physically for five years on the pretext of the marrying her before allegedly snapping ties with her. HT has the copy of FIR registered at Bengaluru’s Jnanabharathi police station.
In the FIR dated February 5, the complainant, who hails from Hyderabad, said she came in contact with Varun, an Arjuna awardee, in 2018 through Instagram. She said Varun was training at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Bengaluru when she met him. “I was reluctant to have any contact with him but he continued sending me messages, and I finally started talking to him,” the complainant alleged.
According the woman, Varun took her to a hotel in Bengaluru’s Jayanagar in July 2019 and made physical relations with her despite being aware that she was a minor. She said she had 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.
The woman alleged that he started distancing himself from her and stopped responding to her calls and messages after her father died last year. According to her FIR, Varun paid her a visit after the tragedy but stopped communicating after that. She said that Varun resumed communication with her when she approached the police on a previous ocassion. However, he again distanced himself when she persisted on the topic of marriage. He then threatened to upload her photos on social media if she exerted pressure on him.
The matter came to light when the team of Karnataka police reached Jalandhar to carry investigation into the matter. Varun, who was in the Indian standby list for the Tokyo Olympics, is currently training with the national squad in Bhubaneswar. There was speculation that Varun, a 2022 Commonwealth Games silver-medallist, is on the run, but Hockey India rubbished the rumour. “He is not absconding. He is in Bhubaneswar with the team,” a Hockey India source told PTI.
Varun, who hails from Himachal Pradesh, shifted to Punjab for hockey, and made his debut for India in 2017. Varun or his family could not be contacted.
With agency inputs
