Cricketer Rohit Damodaran, the son-in-law of filmmaker Shankar, and four others have been booked under the POCSO Act for sexually harassing a 16-year-old girl, The New Indian Express reported.
According to police sources quoted in the report, a complaint has been lodged with the Mettupalayam police in Puducherry on Tuesday against Rohit, who is the captain of a cricket club, his father Damodaran, who is the club’s secretary, and three others, including a cricket coach named Thamarai Kannan. The complaint states that the minor girl was sexually harassed by the individuals named when she had attended cricket coaching at the club.
The issue came to light after the victim, who was reportedly threatened with “dire consequences” if she complained to the authorities, wrote to the Child Welfare Committee.
As per a DT Next report, the welfare committee came to the conclusion that the girl’s statement was true, after an inquiry. Sivasamy, head of the Child Welfare Committee, then filed the complaint against the accused under the POCSO Act.
However, no arrests have been made so far and Shankar has not commented on the issue.
In June, Rohit, who is a domestic cricketer, got married to Shankar’s elder daughter Aishwarya, a doctor by profession. The wedding, which took place with a traditional Hindu ceremony in Mahabalipuram, was attended by select guests, including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader MK Stalin and his son, the actor and politician Udhayanidhi Stalin.
Meanwhile, it has been a rough year for Shankar professionally. The filmmaker was involved in a tiff with Lyca Productions, the makers of Indian 2, over non-completion of that Kamal Hassan-starrer. However, in July, the Madras High Court dismissed an application filed by Lyca seeking to restrain Shankar from working on any other films before completing Indian 2.
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The director has also been facing issues with the proposed Hindi remake of his Tamil film Anniyan, which is set to star actor Ranveer Singh in the lead. Producer Aascar Ravichandran has claimed that he owns the rights to the original and has said that he will be moving the Madras High Court against Shankar and producer Jayantilal Gada over the remake.
On the other hand, Shankar recently amicably resolved the issues that arose during the making of Imsai Arasan 24am Pulikesi with actor Vadivelu.