Guwahati: Following allegations of sexual harassment, the Meghalaya Cricket Association (MCA) has sacked its under-23 women’s team’s head coach, assistant manager and suspended its honorary secretary.
Apprising the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), MCA president, James Sangma in a letter termed the incident as a deeply disturbing development. He said the allegations of sexual harassment and institutional negligence was found by the Meghalaya State Commission for Women (MSCW,) which probed into the incident.
According to the probe, the head coach, Hemant Roy, and assistant manager, Sanjay Mondal, during a tournament in Agartala in December last year, subjected the complainants to “suggestive comments on their bodies and appearances, used vulgar and abusive language during team meetings.”
The assistant manager was found guilty of physically assaulting a woman cricketer in his hotel room in Agartala. The probe was conducted by MSCW under the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
The honorary secretary, Rayonald Kharkamni, has been put under suspension for failing to act on the complaints and suppressing action on the matter. Sangma in his letter to BCCI secretary, Devajit Saikia, said, “A young woman cricketer was physically assaulted in a hotel room by the man entrusted with managing the team. The head coach commented on the players’ body, and when complaints were eventually filed there were attempts to intimidate the complainants into silence.”
The MCA president also sought further action and direction from the BCCI while forwarding the findings of the MSCW.