Women Karate players accuse Chattisgarh association chief of using obscene language

Women karate players in Chhattisgarh’s Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi (GPM) district have accused the state karate association president of using obscene language and pressurizing them to choose different coaches, officials said on Tuesday.

District collector Priyanka Rishi Mahobia has constituted a three-member committee to probe the allegations, they added.

The players also accused the association’s general secretary of threatening their parents and putting pressure on them to withdraw the complaint.

In the complaint submitted to the collector, the players said several tribal students have been getting training from karate trainer Ashok Verma under the government’s Rani Laxmibai Atmaraksha Yojna in the GPM district.

President of the Chhattisgarh Karate Association Sushil Chandra had been forcing them to get training from GPM district karate association office-bearers Manoj Yadav and Pavan Kashyap, they alleged.

The players also accused Chandra of using obscene language over the phone and talking inappropriately, officials said. After getting a complaint on May 17, the collector constituted a three-member committee headed by Deputy Collector Richa Chandrakar to probe the allegations.

The players also submitted a memorandum to the Bilaspur collector on Monday in which they claimed that Chandra and state karate association general secretary Avinash Shetty called their parents to an eatery on Ratanpur-Kota road in Bilaspur district, and asked them to withdraw the complaint.

Earlier, GPM district karate association office-bearers Yadav and Kashyap had complained to the collector against Verma. Talking to reporters, Ashok Verma said the charges against him were baseless.