The sensational case of the sexual abuse of a 15-year-old swimmer by her coach has taken a new turn when the minor victim girl has narrated her ordeal to the Police and Victim Assistance Unit as how the accused had abused her sexually on several occasions taking advantage of his position.
The survivor in the rape case involving Surajit Ganguly, Goa’s former swimming coach stated that from March 2019 onwards, Ganguly had molested her in the elevator, her home, a swimming pool office at Peddem and his house.
It may be recalled that the accused coach in his statement to the court had stated that the trap was laid down by the victim girl to ruin his career. “A Trap Was Laid down to Ruin My Career,” he stated before the court through his lawyer Advocate Russel Pinto to get the bail, but the Goa Children’s Court rejected Ganguly’s bail plea wherein he said he was “trapped”.
Goa Police and the VAU teams went to West Bengal to record the survivor’s statement. Meanwhile, She stated that when she arrived in Goa on March 14, Ganguly invited her family to his flat for dinner. He took her to his flat on his bike and while in the elevator to his fourth-floor apartment, got close to her, lifted her shirt and “started talking dirty”. “He kissed me on my right cheek and I was shocked to see his behavior.” She further said that Ganguly told her to keep quiet about the incident and keep it as a secret between them.
Later after dinner, Ganguly said he would drop her home on his bike. She was reluctant to go and refused but was then coerced by her parents and she went along with him, while her parents walked home.
She further alleged that when Ganguly dropped her home he went to their room and molested her. It was after this incident that she became depressed.
A couple of days later while they were having lunch at the coach’s house Ganguly again hugged her from behind, but after she restrained him, he backed off.
She further added that he would find reasons to touch her on different occasions. She also spoke about one occasion in an office in Peddem, where Ganguly molested her again and made her feel uncomfortable.
Finally fed up with Ganguly’s behavior, she decided to take up matters in her own hands. On August 28th when she was at home with her leg injured, she heard the doorbell ring and saw it was the coach who had come to take her health report.
“I knew he would come into my room and do unnatural things, so I opened the camera on my father’s phone, which was with me and started recording, and kept the phone on the window,” she said.
The video which was circulated on Social media enraged all and sundry and Ganguly fled to Delhi where he was caught and brought back by the Goan cops.
Source: TOI
