Indian para-swimmer Mohammad Shams Aalam Shaikh was sent back to India from Japan following allegations of sexual harassment. The Japanese police received a complaint claiming that the Indian swimmer molested a female hotel staff while in the country to take part in the ongoing Asian Para Games in Nagoya.
According to available information, the alleged incident that has brought a bad reputation to the Indian contingent took place on Monday. The 40-year-old reportedly sexually harassed the housekeeping staff member while she was working inside his room.
The Japanese woman flagged his actions, which were in turn reported to the Para Games organisers and later to Indian officials. He was reportedly detained by the local police before being allowed to board a plane back home. According to reports, Mohammad Shams Aalam Shaikh could be banned for life.
India at Asian Para Games
Meanwhile, Indian athletes excelled in para-archery, para-swimming, and powerlifting as India steadily moved towards a strong overall performance in the eight-day event, which will end on Saturday.
India's visually impaired Ravi Kartik Budigina won his second silver of the Games, claiming the men's 100m backstroke medal in the S13 category.
Another swimmer to pick up a second Games medal was Himanshu Nandal, who took the bronze in the men's breaststroke SB13 classification. Nandal is also visually impaired, with a condition close to total blindness.
While Ravi clocked 1:10.10 to finish second in a four-swimmer field, Nandal returned a time of 1:20.72.
India were assured of three medals in the men's singles SL4 (moderate lower-limb impairments) badminton competition after defending champion Suhas L.Y., Naveen Sivakumar, and Abhijeet Sakhuja advanced to the semi-finals.
