Court sentences father and son for sexual harassment of badminton athletes ByPawan Dixit Dec 07, 2024 07:46 AM IST Share Via Copy Link The court has decided that approximately two and a half years of imprisonment served by Vijay Sinha will be subtracted from his overall sentence LUCKNOW A special judge’s court (Pocso Act) on […]
Court sentences father and son for sexual harassment of badminton athletes
The court has decided that approximately two and a half years of imprisonment served by Vijay Sinha will be subtracted from his overall sentence
LUCKNOW A special judge’s court (Pocso Act) on Friday sentenced Nishant Sinha, the former working secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Badminton Association (UPBA), to seven years in prison and his father, the former secretary, Vijay Sinha, to five years in a case from January 2017 concerning the sexual harassment of female badminton athletes at Babu Banarasi Das Uttar Pradesh Badminton Academy. Each was also fined ₹50,000.
The father and son were convicted under several sections of the Pocso Act.
Additional district judge Vijendra Tripathi, serving as special judge (Pocso Act), delivered the ruling and commanded the police to take the pair into custody and transport them to jail.
The court also specified that the two and a half years already served by Vijay Sinha will be deducted from his punishment. Presently, both were on bail.
The then chief security official of the BBD Uttar Pradesh Badminton Academy, Jang Bahadur Singh, filed a police report against Vijay Sinha and his son Nishant on February 20, 2017, at the Gomti Nagar police station. He accused them of extorting funds from academy athletes and claimed that Nishant had sexually exploited certain female players.
The court found Vijay Sinha guilty of Sections 10, 16/17 of the Pocso Act, alongside sections 354-A /109 of the IPC. Nishant was convicted under Section 9 (F)/10 of the Pocso Act and Section 354-A of the IPC.
“The prosecution brought forward nine witnesses in this case. Among them were three victims (minor girls), a male badminton player, a security officer, and a physiotherapist,” stated advocate Manoj Tripathi, representing the district government counsel (crime).
Additionally, two investigating officers and another sub-inspector served as witnesses in the case, he mentioned.
Advocate Abhishek Upadhyay, representing the state in court, remarked: “The prosecution established all accusations beyond doubt during the trial. Following the verdict, both father and son were taken into custody and sent to jail.”
Upadhyay noted that it took eight years to reach this ruling, as the defendants had repeatedly contested trial court proceedings in the Supreme Court.
