Table tennis star Sanil Shetty expressed his shock regarding the rape FIR against fellow player Soumyajit Ghosh and said the moment they came to know about the complaint, it was extremely sad for all of them.
On Thursday, India's youngest national champion in table tennis Ghosh, got into a legal soup after an 18-year-old lodged a rape FIR against him at the Barasat women's police station and alleged that Ghosh raped her on the pretext of getting married to her.
Arjuna awardee table tennis player Soumyajit Ghosh accused of rape, FIR lodged
IndiaToday.in got in touch with Ghosh and even though he accepted that the girl in question was his girlfriend, he completely denied the allegations and claimed that it was the girl and her family who had been blackmailing and mentally torturing him.
Subsequently, Ghosh was dropped from India's squad for the Commonwealth Games (CWG), which is set to begin in Australia from April 4. Sanil is likely to replace Ghosh in the squad, however, he told IndiaToday.in that the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) will inform him about the replacement on Monday.
"They have just told me to be prepared, I have not been named as the replacement yet. I will come to know about the same on Monday," Sanil informed.
Sanil, who had been playing for his club in Germany and will be returning to India on Sunday, shared how he was extremely shocked to hear the news about Ghosh and they were all very sad and shocked, especially since it all happened right before CWG.
"When we heard about this (rape FIR against Ghosh), everyone was shocked. It was a sad moment for all of us because we have all been together for so many years.
"And before this major event [CWG], something like this was shocking," Sanil said.
Sanil further added that it is everyone's dream to represent the country in such big games but under the current circumstances, he feels bad for Ghosh. Sanil previously represented India at the 2014 CWG in Glasgow and won the bronze medal in the men's team event.
"Obviously everyone wants to represent their country in such big games but in this case, I feel bad for my friend [Ghosh] and we will always support him.
"We will be with him, support him in any possible way."
However, Sanil said he has "never" actually met the girl in question. Soumyajit had told IndiaToday.in that he and the girl had been dating since 2015 and it was for the past one and a half years that things had taken a difficult turn for him in the relationship.
Sanil said that according to the original curriculum, he is supposed to represent India at the Asia Cup from April 6-8 in Japan along with current U-18 world No.2 Manav Thakkar and Ayhika Mukherjee.
Sanil, who is currently ranked 72 in the world and just a place below veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal, put in a brilliant show at last year's Ultimate Table Tennis and is all set to do the same this year for the defending champions Falcons TTC.
Earlier this year, he got engaged to his fellow player Reeth Rishya and the two will be getting married later this year in December.