Puducherry coach booked under POSCO for harassing 16-year-old cricketer

Thamarai Kannan, a player cum coach from Puducherry, has been booked under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act for sexual harassment of an under-aged girl cricketer. Four office bearers of the Cricket Association of Puducherry (CAP) have been booked under the act by Mettupalayam police, The Indian Express reported.



As per the report, the 16-year-old cricketer complained to the Childline about Thamarai Kannan misbehaved with her during the training sessions with him. The cricketer complained that the coach has sent several inappropriate messages and threatened her if she didn’t reciprocate. The complainant added that he also harassed her despite her objections by physically touching her.



The reported added that the office bearers – president Damodharan, men’s team captain Rohit Damodharan, secretary Venkat and coach Jayakumar – were booked for failing to act on the girl’s complaint to the association. The girl then approached the Childline and Mettupalayam police subsequently took over the investigation because of the inaction from the association.



“The complaint is against Thamarai Kannan. There have been reports that the rest of the members are also involved in the act, which is not true. There are three sections in the Pocso Act – 10, 12, and 21. The first two comes under sexual assault and harassment and the last concerns to not reporting the incident to the police. Thamarai Kannan has been booked under the first two sections, the rest of the accused have been booked under section 21. The main accused Thamarai Kannan is absconding. We have formed special teams to trace him down,” police were quoted as saying.