Noida: 5 years on, swimming coach acquitted of molestation charge

NOIDA: A swimming coach has been acquitted in a molestation case filed by the father of a 14-year-old girl against him in 2017. Rakesh Singh, then 25, taught swimming at a Noida school where the girl studied.
The father of the girl — a Class 7 student then — had alleged that Singh tried to kiss his daughter near the school’s swimming pool on May 6, 2017. “My daughter was standing with her two classmates when the coach called her to the side, held her by the waist and tried to kiss her. My daughter then informed her sports teacher, who called me up,” he said in his complaint filed at Sector 24 police station.
The same day, a case was registered against Singh under Section 354 (assault of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the IPC and Section 7/8 of the Pocso Act. He was arrested.
During the trial, the father had told the Pocso court that Singh had called his daughter to the back of the pool. “When two of her classmates reached there, the coach set her free. When I asked my daughter, she said the coach had tried to kiss her,” he said.
However, in her statement to the court, the girl said the swimming coach did not molest her, but she complained against him because her classmates told her that the way he had touched her was inappropriate.
“That day, two of my friends and I were standing near the pool. The coach approached me and asked me affectionately if I knew how to swim. I said yes and told him I wanted to learn some good strokes. The coach said he would teach me. He then placed his hand affectionately on my head. My friends saw this, and they told me what the coach had done was inappropriate. I got scared and informed my sports teacher,” she said.
On June 30, the court of additional district and sessions judge (Pocso) Niranjan Kumar referred to the Allahabad HC judgment in the Bhanu Pratap Gangwar Vs State of UP case of 2007, in which it observed that statements under Section 164 CrPC only were not considered independent and strong evidence. The Pocso court then acquitted Singh of the charges.