The Swimming Federation of India (SFI) on Friday banned Goa’s sacked swimming coach Surajit Ganguly from all activities related to the sport after a minor girl accused him of rape. Ganguly, a coach employed with the Goa Swimming Association (GSA), is accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl who was training under him, a purported video of which went viral on social media. “Based on report filed with the SFI’s Goa unit and corroborated by evidence on social media, the SFI condemns this heinous behaviour and has banned this coach from any form of coaching or other activities related to the sport across india. Circular to this effect is issued to all its 29 state units,” the SFI said in a statement. A case under IPC sections 376 (rape), 354 (molestation) and 506 (criminal intimidation), as well as under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and Goa Children’s Act was registered against Ganguly in Goa. On Thursday, in a series of Tweets, sports minister Kiren Rijiju had assured that stringent action will be taken against Ganguly. “I’ve taken a strong view of the incident. The Goa Swimming Association has terminated the contract of coach Surajit Ganguly. I’m asking the Swimming Federation of India to ensure that this coach is not employed anywhere in India. This applies to all Federations & disciplines. “A stringent action will be taken through Sports Authority. Firstly, it’s a heinous crime of serious nature so I’ll urge the Police to take stringent penal action against the coach urgently.
