Overview
- A Fast Track Special POCSO Court in Sonipat, which found Kuldeep Vedwan guilty on May 15, sentenced him on Thursday to five years’ rigorous imprisonment under Section 10 and three years under Section 12 with both terms to run concurrently and a combined fine reported at Rs 15,000.
- Prosecutors say the charge stems from an April 7, 2023 incident when Vedwan allegedly entered a 17-year-old trainee’s hotel room around 4 a.m., made obscene advances and the athlete escaped after a 15–20 minute struggle.
- The athlete disclosed the episode only after she was selected for the Asia Cup, an internal inquiry by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board followed and a police FIR was filed on August 18, 2023 before Vedwan’s arrest later that year and his release on bail in 2024.
- Vedwan is a former national archer and ex-Army coach who ran multiple academies and mentored para-archers including Sheetal Devi, giving the case wider impact on reputation and trust in coaching networks.
- The fast-track trial and sentencing underline how POCSO courts are used to expedite child sexual offence cases and are likely to prompt scrutiny of safeguarding, selection-site oversight and reporting procedures by sports bodies.