Arjuna Awardee Soumyajit Ghosh accused of raping 18-year-old, says I was 'blackmailed'

Arjuna Awardee Soumyajit Ghosh Soumyajit Ghosh has been accused of raping an 18-year old girl. The girl has filed an FIR at the Barasat Women Police Station.

"We have received a complaint against table tennis player Soumyajit Ghosh and have started an investigation. The details can't be revealed," said Barasat additional SP Abhijit Banerjee.

The girl has stated that she and the Table Tennis star dated after conversing over social media three years back, after which they met met at his Kolkata flat and then in Siliguri. She even accused him of breaking promises to marry her.

"We were in a relationship since last three years, during which he raped me. He also promised to marry me, but refused later," a report on ANI quotes the girl.

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While defending himself, the 24-year-old Ping Pong player said to a leading daily, "It's a fake allegation (rape). Actually we met a few years ago on Facebook, around March 2015 and we were together for quite some time, our families knew about it and we were supposed to get married. In fact, when I went to received the Arjuna Award (in 2016), she and her mom were with me then. Suddenly she started opposing my career and travelling and it started to fall apart. Then, she was blackmailing me, forcing and mentally torturing me with threats and all."

"When I went to Europe, she started to show her real character and then I broke up with her because I felt it was too much and I could not play while being with her. I spoke to my family about this also and they supported my decision. This is how it all started," Ghosh added.

The accused table tennis star Soumyajit Ghosh represented India at 2012 and 2016 Olympics. He also became the youngest national champion at the age of 19, when he defeated Sharath Kamal in the 74th National Table Tennis Championships.