Badminton coach arrested for allegedly raping minor girl in Bengaluru

A badminton coach in Bengaluru was arrested by police for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl on multiple occasions and possessed explicit pictures of 7-8 girls on his phone.

The accused, a 26-year-old from Tamil Nadu, worked at a badminton training centre in Hulimavu where the girl trained for the past two years.

Police said that he took her to his house under the guise of training and assaulted her multiple times and warned her not to tell anyone.

As per reports, the matter came to light earlier this week when the girl’s grandmother found nude pictures sent to an unknown number from her phone.

The girl was travelling to her grandmother’s home for vacation and the girl sent a nude photo of herself to the coach via WhatsApp from her grandmother's phone. She immediately alerted the minor's parents.

On enquiring by her mother, the girl spoke about sexual abuse by the coach on multiple occasions.

The girl told a police officer that she was taken to the coach's house close to 25 times. The girl would skip dance classes and tuitions to visit his house and he would rape her. Her parents approached police who reached out to the coach and arrested him.

During interrogation, the badminton coach confessed that he had sex with the girl many times. He also clicked a few nude photos of the girl on his phone.

"When we checked his phone, we found nude photos and videos of seven to eight other girls, all aged 13-16 years, who took training at the same sports centre. He appears to be a habitual offender who has been targeting minor girls," a senior police officer was quoted as saying by the TOI.

"He has been taken into police custody for eight days. Since the girl's clothes were washed every time after she met him, we have to investigate the case thoroughly and collect other evidence," he added.