Coach facing false sex abuse case gets relief from HC

CHENNAI: A taekwondo coach, who was branded as a sex offender due to a misguided bad touch complaint lodged by three girls to humiliate the coach, was granted relief by the Madras High Court, which also directed the police to book the persons who forced the girls to file the false complaint.

N Dharmarajan, a taekwondo coach, moved the court seeking to quash the criminal proceedings pending against him before the Mahila sessions court, Perambalur.

"This is an unfortunate case where two disgruntled persons, Aravind and Pradeep, had an axe to grind against the petitioner. They, therefore, misused the girls who were undergoing taekwondo coaching with the petitioner and fabricated a complaint against him," wrote Justice N Anand Venkatesh while quashing the criminal proceedings.

When the alleged victims were examined in his chamber, the judge found that Aravind and Pradeep influenced the girls by repeatedly telling them that every time Dharmarajan touched them during coaching, it was a bad touch and that he had sexually abused other girls also. The girls also stated that the coach was a man of good nature and he never indulged in any sexual abuse with any other girl students.

"We did not even know what was written in the complaint and were merely asked to sign the complaint," the girls said in their statements.

Noting that there was absolutely no material found against the petitioner to prosecute him for the alleged offence, the judge said the court had no hesitation to quash the false case foisted against him. The girls have virtually given a new lease of life to the petitioner who has now come out clean and he can lead his life without the taboo of being branded as a sexual offender, added the judge and appreciated the sincerity and truthfulness of the girls.

“This court cannot draw the curtains by closing this case without punishing the offenders, Aravind and Pradeep, who have manipulated the minds of the young girls and had managed to fabricate a false complaint against the petitioner to humiliate him,” said Justice Anand Venkatesh, directing the police to book a Pocso case against the manipulators within four weeks.

In 2022, Perambalur all-women police booked Dharmarajan under the Pocso Act based on the complaint lodged by the parents of the girls. It was alleged that Dharmarajan had sexually abused three female students in the name of giving taekwondo training. The Mahila Sessions judge, Perambalur, also took cognisance of the case. Aggrieved by this, the petitioner moved the HC seeking for relief.