A horror story of sexual harassment of women players puts the focus on Kerala Cricket Association
Coach Manu is in judicial custody under the POCSO Act after six girls registered complaints against him to the police; the parents of the trainees are upset with the way the issue has been handled
Kerala is all set to host the first season of its own franchise-based cricket league. Sanju Samson continues to be in and out of the Indian team, and his omission always causes an outcry in Kerala. A cricketer from the State — Minnu Mani — has been named captain of the Indian women’s ‘A’ team. Two others — Asha Sobhana and Sajana Sajeevan — are in the Indian side for the ongoing Women’s Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.
But, it is for none of these things that Kerala cricket is mostly in the news these days. A horror story of sexual harassment of women cricketers – many of them minors – in the State has put the focus on the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA).
Coach M. Manu is in judicial custody under the POCSO (Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences) Act. Six girls have registered complaints against him to the police.
Tipping point
The tipping point came when Manu was appointed by the KCA as one of the coaches for a domestic tournament. A girl — who had been previously abused by him and who had moved to another State — was shocked to find that he had still been working as a coach, despite a police case against him for sexual harassment (he had been acquitted in that POCSO case after the survivor reportedly changed her statement). This time, the girl, who went for the KCA tournament, raised a complaint. Soon, many others came forward.
The girls are understood to have gone through horrible experiences – physical and mental – while training under him. He had allegedly been exploiting girls for six years. That is why parents of the trainees are upset with the way the KCA has handled the issue. They feel Manu should not have been allowed to coach girls after complaints against him surfaced.
“Manu is a habitual offender and used his position as a coach to sexually assault minors,” a parent of one of the girls told The Hindu. “He was manipulating and grooming children all the time for his sexual desires. He exploited the children’s passion for the game and told them that they would have to cooperate with him to succeed.
“When practice was going on at the nets at the KCA headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, he would take the victims to the gymnasium on the sly to perform lewd acts.
“The gym and rest room were the only places where there were no CCTV cameras and he pretty well knew that.
Under KCA’s protection
“The KCA is protecting him as he is connected with a cricket club owned by a KCA official. The KCA didn’t take any action against Manu despite the complaints. The KCA’s statement that it wasn’t aware of the issue until the police visited its premises for investigation is false.”
The KCA had been indeed under fire for not taking any action against the coach and its continued silence, even after the police arrested Manu for the POCSO offence.
At a press conference, KCA president Jayesh George and secretary Vinod S. Kumar denied that it was protecting the perpetrator and the association was cooperating with the Kerala police in the probe. The Hindu spoke to Vinod and he responded to the charges against him and the KCA. As we have often seen in the past, sexual harassment in sport takes time to come out.
The victims – especially when they are teens, or even younger – would not have the courage to speak out and may not even understand the gravity of the crime committed against them. In the United States, it took two decades to bring Larry Nassar, the former team doctor of the national women’s gymnastics team, to justice. Among his numerous victims were Olympic champions Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas.
Closer home, we have seen the public protests by India’s wrestlers who risked their careers to seek justice as they challenged the mighty officialdom.
At a time when women’s cricket is becoming increasingly popular, and more rewarding for the players with the arrival of the Women’s Premier League, the scandal in Kerala should be an eye-opener.
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