Swimming instructor molests 8-year-old girl at Chandigarh gym

A 26-year-old on-call life guard was arrested for allegedly molesting an eight-year-old female trainee at Rajeev Enterprises Sports Academy in Sector 29 on Sunday night.

Police said the accused was identified as Divesh alias Pinkal, a native of Gujarat. He worked as a plumber at the gym-cum-swimming academy, and occasionally served as a life guard.

They said the victim, a Class-4 student at a Chandigarh school, was training inside the pool when Divesh touched her inappropriately around 8:30pm. People standing near the pool noticed Divesh and raised the alarm. The victim’s family soon reached the spot to pick up the victim, and sounded the police, who reached the spot and arrested Divesh.

Family members of the victim claimed that the incident had been captured on the CCTV cameras on the gym premises.

Cops at the Industrial Area police station have booked Divesh under Section 354 (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 10 (aggravated sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.