Bijapur: ‘Our Coaches Beat Us, Used Casteist Slurs’, say Tribal athletes in Bijapur Academy. A case of physical assault on athletes of the Sports academy was registered on the evening of 4th January in the Kotwali police station.
Students of the academy submitted a written complaint against the two of their coaches who allegedly beat them in the name of practice. “I have scars on my back. They beat me up the most,” says one of the five students. The students alleged the coaches habitually casteisized them and misbehaved with a girl last year.
The students stated that the coaches thrashed them physically after they requested them to train after the lockdown had set in. “Then, the coach said that we needed to be disciplined. Just then, a little bit of tobacco he was chewing came out from his mouth and Haniram (one of the students) started to laugh. The coach got angry and started beating us and abusing us, said Roshan Pujari, an athlete amongst the five victims. Another student Onish delineated how the coaches misbehaved and abused girls. Amit Yogi- in charge of the academy stated that the board had decided to suspend the coaches after a thorough probe.
Bijapur Sports Academy was established in 2016 to nurture talent in the Naxal dominated area of the state. The academy has given several students who formed the face of the state at the national level.