A man has been arrested for allegedly stalking and inappropriately touching two of Australia’s women cricketers during the ICC Women’s World Cup in India, police said on Saturday.
“We received a complaint from the Australian team security and immediately acted, registered a case and identified the accused within six hours,” said police officer Rajesh Dandotiya.
The 30-year-old man who was arrested has a criminal record, according to Dandotiya.
What else do we know about the incident?
The incident took place in the central Indian city of Indore on Thursday morning, a day after Australia’s six-wicket victory over England in the group stage of the ICC Women’s World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
The two players left their hotel and were walking to a nearby cafe when they were allegedly approached by a motorcyclist.
The Times of India reported that the Australian team’s security manager received a distress message from one of the cricketers saying that “there is a guy following us trying to grab us.”
Dandotiya said the accused followed the players, who were not identified, and approached them “for a bad touch” about 800 meters from their hotel.
India’s cricket board calls incident ‘isolated’
Cricket Australia said in a statement “the matter was reported by team security to police, who are handling the matter.”
Police said they have opened a case against the 30-year-old man for “inappropriate behavior and stalking.”
India’s cricket board (BCCI) Secretary Devajit Saikia called the incident “deeply regrettable and isolated.”
“We will also review our existing safety protocols and strengthen them further, if necessary, to ensure such incidents are not repeated,” said Saikia.
Edited by: Zac Crellin
