Rape charges against CWG-bound Ghosh

The West Bengal police is probing a complaint by an 18-year-old-girl, who has accused national table tennis player and Olympian Soumyajit Ghosh of raping her after promising to marry her, an official said on Thursday.

The complaint has been lodged at the Barasat women's police station in North 24 Parganas district, which has booked 24-year-old Arjuna awardee under the IPC sections for rape, criminal conspiracy, causing miscarriage without the woman's consent and cheating, the police said.

"We have received a complaint against table tennis player Soumyajit Ghosh yesterday and started a probe into the case. The investigation is at a nascent stage and nothing much can be said about it as of now," Barasat Additional Superintendent of Police Abhijit Banerjee said.

The teenager, a resident of Barasat in North 24 Parganas district, has alleged in her complaint that Ghosh raped her several times over the past three years on the pretext of marriage, another senior officer of the West Bengal police said.

In her complaint, the girl also said that she was forced to undergo an abortion by the Olympian at his Bagha Jatin flat in south Kolkata, the officer said.

"In her complaint, the girl claimed that the two of them met on a social networking site in 2014 and that the Olympian had promised to marry her after she turned 18," the officer said.

The national champion could not be contacted as his phone was found switched off.

To be suspended?

The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), meanwhile, said it is likely to suspend Ghosh and drop him from the Commonwealth Games squad.

Ghosh, who is currently training in Germany, for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, is set to be dropped from the national team, federation secretary MP Singh said on Thursday.

"The charges are very serious against Ghosh, who is an important member of the men's squad for the CWG. I have called an executive committee meeting tomorrow. In my opinion, we have no option but to suspend him pending further investigations. Sanil Shetty has been in the reserves and will be his replacement for the Gold Coast Games," said Singh.

The other members of the squad are G Sathiyan , A Sharath Kamal, Anthony Amalraj and Harmeet Desai.

However Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra said that in case TTFI drops Ghosh, the CWG federation won't allow any replacement.

"The matter has not reached the IOA yet but as far as I know, the rule states that a replacement would only be allowed if a particular player sustains injury or falls ill," Batra told reporters on the sidelines of an official send-off ceremony of the Games-bound athletes.