A Kashmiri sportsman has been held on charges of molesting a minor during an international snowshoe racers’ event in Saranac Lake village, New York.
J&K Sports Council secretary Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra confirmed to The Hindu that a sportsman attending an independent event “has been detained.”
A U.S.-based website, northcountrypublicradio.org, identified the Indian snowshoe racer as Tanveer Hussain, 24.
“Initial reports suggest that a Kashmir-origin sportsman has been detained. We are in the process of providing him legal aid. So far, we have sketchy details of what actually happened,” Mr. Parra said.
Hussain is a J&K Bank employee. “He [Mr. Hussain] was arrested on Wednesday and charged with first degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child,” the website quoted the Adirondack Daily Enterprise .
In a statement released by the Saranac Lake Village Police, according to a U.S.-based newspaper, the officials accused Mr. Hussain of kissing and inappropriately touching a 12-year-old girl on Monday.
Denied visa earlier
In January, The Hindu reported that two Kashmiri athletes, including Mr. Hussain, were denied visa by the U.S. Embassy in India “due to the Trump administration’s tough laws”, an accusation denied by the U.S. administration later.
According to the website, he was granted visa following lobbying by officials and residents of the Adirondacks, as well as by U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer.
