National-level Kabaddi player gets rape threats from Upper caste men

Patna: A national-level kabaddi and wrestling player has been facing rape threats from locals from her own village in Bihar for last few months. She is a resident of Pandarak village which is 40 km away from Patna.

The upper caste strong men are threatening her to finish her career by raping her. “Despite coming from a backward caste, we excel in sports and therefore villagers are forcing us to stop playing. I belong to Yadav community and the Bhumihars are threatening us to stop playing. They say if backward caste girls start to play sports then what will girls from upper caste do,” she said, speaking to India Today.

A junior and sub-junior national player has also been threatened with rape if she continues to pursue a career in sports. The upper caste locals are upset with Ruby since she defeated one of the girls belonging to their community recently.

“They eve tease me and they have beaten my father also many times. They ask us to stop playing kabaddi or else they will rape me. I had a complaint to the police two months back, but nothing happened. Whenever I go to practice 25 km away from my house, they threaten to rape me on the way,” said the national-level kabaddi player.

The girl went to Patna to lodge a complaint against the upper caste men but the SSP of Patna Manu Maharaj ended up giving suggestions to the girl for compromising with the upper caste men. She had also met senior police officials in Pandarak previously, but no action has been yet taken.

“This matter had come to light earlier and a compromise was struck between the two sides, but the strongmen of the village are still defiant. We will now take action in this case and arrest the accused,” said Manu Maharaj, Patna SSP.