Indian hockey player Varun Kumar has been booked by the Bengaluru police under the Protection of Children from Sexual Assault (POCSO) act for allegedly raping a minor, as per a report in Deccan Herald. The incident dates back to July 2019 when Varun – the 28-year-old defender hailing from Punjab – was training with the Indian men's hockey team at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Bengaluru's Jnanabharati.
According to the report, Varun allegedly raped a minor under the pretext of marriage. The survivor, who was also training at the same centre at that time, had received messages from the hockey player. Whilst it is being said that the victim had initially ignored the messages, she eventually agreed to meet Varun after being informed by the player’s friends that he loves her. At that time, the survivor was 17 years old.
Since then, Varun allegedly raped the survivor on multiple occasions, promising to marry her, but curbed all conversations a year ago. He has also been accused of threatening to leak private photographs of the survivor. A case was lodged against Varun at the Jananabharati Police Station on Monday, 5 February.
The defender was a part of India’s 2020 Tokyo Olympics’ bronze medal-winning team, whilst he won a gold and a bronze medal at the Asian Games. He has played a total of 142 matches for India, wherein he scored 40 goals.
Notably, he has also been named in the Indian team for the ongoing 2023-24 Men’s FIH Pro League by coach Craig Fulton. Besides being a hockey player, Varun is also working with the Punjab Police, and was bestowed with the Arjuna Award in 2021.
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