Overview
- SAI suspended PT Paulose, a 49-year-old Olympian and former high performance director in Alappuzha, after a female assistant rowing coach filed a sexual harassment complaint in January.
- The agency opened a departmental inquiry and moved him to its Imphal center earlier this month to prevent any interference with the probe.
- A source says the alleged misconduct began in early 2025 and included inappropriate messages and entering her room, though detailed charges are not public and he has not commented.
- SAI runs residential training hubs where young athletes live under coaches' authority, which can magnify power imbalances and make it harder to report abuse.
- Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya recently told Parliament that SAI logged 33 sexual harassment complaints in the past decade, a record that adds scrutiny to how this inquiry proceeds.