- Meghalaya Cricket Association dismissed coach, manager for gross sexual harassment.
- Inquiry confirmed assistant manager assaulted player; secretary suspended for cover-up.
- President informed BCCI about findings, seeking nationwide punitive action.
The Meghalaya Cricket Association has dismissed its under-23 women’s team head coach and assistant manager following a damning statutory inquiry into gross sexual harassment. The state governing body also suspended its honorary secretary for actively covering up the internal complaints, dragging the Board of Control for Cricket in India into a massive administrative scandal.
The disciplinary action follows an official probe conducted by the Meghalaya State Commission for Women. Investigators reviewed the severe allegations under the explicit legal provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal Act of 2013.
The Investigation Findings
The statutory inquiry focused closely on the systemic mistreatment of female athletes during a regional tournament. The panel established that the elite team officials abused their positions of authority during an away sporting tour.
The official report confirmed that head coach Hemant Roy and assistant manager Sanjay Mondal targeted squad members. The incidents occurred during a competitive fixture held in Agartala in December last year.
The independent probe proved that the management duo subjected multiple complainants to highly suggestive comments regarding their bodies and physical appearances. The officials additionally deployed vulgar and abusive language during mandatory team meetings.
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Assault in Hotel Room
The findings grew far more severe regarding the targeted physical actions of the secondary team official. The state commission explicitly found the assistant manager guilty of a serious physical infraction.
The executive investigator confirmed that Mondal physically assaulted a female cricketer inside his assigned hotel room in Agartala. The dangerous incident sparked immediate demands for total structural reform across the state association.
The Executive Cover-Up
The scandal quickly expanded to include senior administrative officials within the cricket body. Honorary secretary Rayonald Kharkamni faced immediate suspension for failing to execute his statutory duties to protect the vulnerable players.
The state executive was found guilty of failing to act on the initial athlete complaints. Kharkamni deliberately suppressed any internal disciplinary action on the matter to protect the coaching staff from scrutiny.
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The Letter to BCCI
Meghalaya Cricket Association President James Sangma formally contacted the national governing body regarding the crisis. Sangma described the findings in a direct letter addressed to BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia.
The state president provided a graphic summary of the administrative failures to national headquarters. He confirmed that the criminal actions were intentionally hidden by the now-suspended secretary.
“A young woman cricketer was physically assaulted in a hotel room by the man entrusted with managing the team,” MCA President James Sangma stated in his official letter to BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia. “The head coach commented on the players’ body, and when complaints were eventually filed there were attempts to intimidate the complainants into silence.”
Demands for National Action
Sangma labeled the entire series of events as a deeply disturbing development for Indian sports. He forwarded the complete written findings of the women’s commission directly to the national board.
The state president explicitly requested immediate secondary direction and punitive action from the apex body. The association aims to permanently bar the disgraced coaching officials from entering any cricket facility nationwide.
