New Delhi: Over 150 women activists from the All India Democratic Women’s Association staged a protest on March 27 at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar against Haryana minister Sandeep Singh, who has been accused of sexually harassing a coach.
Singh, who is a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Pehowa constituency, served as the sports and youth affairs minister of Haryana. He no longer holds the post of sports and youth affairs, but continues to be the minister of state for printing and stationery (independent charge).
The protesters have demanded Singh’s immediate arrest and his removal from the Haryana cabinet.
They have also submitted an appeal with over 30,000 signatures to President Droupadi Murmu, seeking action against the minister.
They have alleged that Singh used his political power to influence the investigation in the case and intimidate the complainant.
He was booked by the Chandigarh Police on December 31, 2022, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, after a complaint was filed against him for sexually harassing a woman coach.
On January 1, he resigned from his position but, as earlier mentioned, remained in the cabinet.
He has denied the accusations made against him, saying that his political rivals were conspiring against him.
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The special investigation team, led by deputy superintendent of police (East) Palak Goel, probing the case against Singh, has filed an application in a local court to conduct a brain mapping test of the minister.
At the protest site, Jagmati Sagwan, a former international volleyball player, said that while the women are making the country proud, the ministers of Haryana are mistreating them.
Harpal Singh, the woman’s father, said he is getting death threats. “We are getting death threats from the people, asking me and my daughter to withdraw the case against Sandeep Singh or we will be killed in the next three to four days. We have asked the Haryana Police to provide us security but so far no help has been provided to us. Not even a chargesheet has been filed against the minister.”
One of the protesters, Raj Kumari Dahiya, said “the governments at the Centre and the state are against women and the poor in the country, but we will not tolerate the crimes against them.”
In Haryana, crimes against women rose by 27% from 13,000 in 2020 to 16,658 cases in 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau data.
