Football coach Abhijit Mendal has been arrested under POCSO act (Images: X)
Private football coach, Abhijit Mendal, aged 36, has been arrested from Vasai, Palghar, in Maharashtra, on charges of rape and blackmail against a 17-year-old minor girl who was coached by him. Abhijit was arrested after a police complaint was lodged against him by the parents of the survivor, alleging the trainer had committed sexual assaults over a period of three years and also mental harassment. As per police officials, the ordeal of the minor began in the year 2023 when she joined the private sports academy run by the football coach.
Reports say that the accused, Abhijit Mendal, exploited his coaching role and began sexually assaulting the teenager in different ways. Over these three years, the trainer secretly recorded many private videos and photographs of the minor without her permission. It was only when the survivor realised that enough is enough and decided to end the relationship between them that he resorted to blackmailing her, threatening to post these private images and videos online on various social media sites.
As per reports, the survivor put up with the psychological harassment for a prolonged period of time until she was unable to hold back any longer and revealed everything to her family. Shaken by her experience, the family members went straight to the nearby police station to file a complaint against the sexual harassment. On the basis of their complaints, the police officials of Manikpur carried out an urgent probe and have arrested the football coach in question, who now stands charged under the POCSO act as well as rape and intimidation charges.
This horrific incident closely mirrors another case in Mumbai, where a judo instructor was arrested for using his position to sexually assault a 15-year-old student under the pretext of extra fitness training. According to reports, just like the Palghar football coach, that trainer also threatened to ruin the girl’s sports career if she told anyone. In a separate case from Pune, a school cricket instructor was jailed under the POCSO Act after two minor girls complained that he was touching them inappropriately during practice sessions.
In another part of the state, a swimming trainer faced similar criminal charges after a teenage girl revealed he was blackmailing her with private chat screenshots to force her to meet him outside training hours.
The police are currently checking if the arrested football coach has targeted other young players at his academy, and they are scanning his mobile phone to see if any videos were shared with anyone else.
Khalid Qasid is a media enthusiast with a strong interest in documentary filmmaking. He holds a Master’s degree in Convergent Journalism from AJK MCRC. He has also written extensively on esports at Sportsdunia. Currently, he covers world and general news at NewsX Digital.
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