Noida, Jul 26: 2004 Sydney bronze medallist, Karnam Malleswari, demanded the sacking of Indian Weightlifting Federation Secretary Sahdev Yadav for not paying heed to her complaints against coach Ramesh Malhotra, who has been suspended on charges of sexually harassing junior lifters.
Malleswari said Yadav has to be shown the door so that coaches like Malhotra are never appointed.
"Suspending the coach is not enough. The Federation secretary should also be sacked because he didn't act against Malhotra despite repeated complaints. If he is not sacked then people like Malhotra will be made coach again," Malleswar said.
Malleswari said, "Whatever I am saying now was never a secret. Sports Authority of India officials, senior coaches, the federation and the players knew about it all along."
"I made a complaint against Malhotra in the IWF Executive Committee meeting in Udaipur in Feb 2010 and I was assured that action would be taken. But leave alone taking action, he was recommended for the Dronacharya award," she added.
Malhotra was suspended after Malleswari revealed that he had been harassing young lifters for the past 10 years.
However, Malhotra has denied the allegations against him, claiming that it is a conspiracy against him.
OneIndia News