Tarun Karthick
Campbell Bay, 16 June 2022
Cycling Star Deborah Herold who hails from Andaman and Nicobar Islands has alleged that R.K Sharma, India’s Ex-National Cycling Coach, slapped her twice and harassed her for years. Deborah informed Deccan Herald, Ex-Coach and the team’s assistant Gautamni Devi ridiculed her for years and removed her from the national team as Gautamni Devi thought she was in a relationship with another female cyclist.
“She (Devi) thought I was in a relationship with another female cyclist, and harassed me a lot. She taunted, ignored, and isolated me from the rest of the cyclists. Eventually, I was removed from the national camp. In truth, there was nothing like it…we are just good friends,” Deborah told the Deccan Herald.
Deborah also informed the Deccan Herald, that Gautamni Devi taunted and passed derogatory remarks against her, R.K Sharma started to harass her mentally. She alleged that both the coaches made rude and discouraging statements during training and made personal remarks against the friendship between Deborah and her teammate from Andaman.
Deborah also informed that she was asked to stay away from all the other cyclists and was ultimately isolated from the team. “The assistant coach and the chief coach harassed us mentally. It affected me so much that I started losing weight because I couldn’t eat properly… I was pulled up if I spoke with any teammate, male or female. If I bumped into someone in the dining room, I would be shouted at. It reached a stage where, on some days, I started eating alone in my hostel room. I was singled out and harassed for no fault of mine,” she said to Deccan Herald.
Deccan Herald confronted Gautamni Devi about the allegations. Devi in response informed that she was following the instructions given to her by the federation. When she was confronted with the allegations of removing Deborah from the National Team for her friendship with another cyclist, Devi said, “This wasn’t in my hands. Who am I? Just a coach who works under the federation…Nothing is in my hands. I do what the federation tells me.”
R.K Sharma was recently sacked as the National Cycling Coach after allegations of sexual harassment by another female cyclist. The female cyclist had alleged inappropriate behaviour by the coach during a foreign exposure trip to Slovenia. An FIR was recently filed by the cyclist on the advice of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the Sports Authority of India.