Kashmiri sportsman held in US on ‘molestation charges’

Hussain is accused of “inappropriate sexual behavior with an underage girl, contact which allegedly took place on Monday in the village of Saranac Lake.”

Google Maps image locates Saranac Lake in New York State of the Unites States.

A Kashmiri sportsman has been held on charges of molestation during a snowshoe racers’ event in United Nation’s Saranac Lake village, New York.

J&K Sports Council secretary Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra confirmed to The Hindu that a sportsman on an independent event “has been detained.”

“We are ascertaining the facts. Initial reports suggest that a Kashmir-origin sportsman has been detained. We are in the process of providing him the legal aid since he belongs to Jammu and Kashmir. So far, we have sketchy details of what has actually happened at the venue,” Mr. Parra said.

A U.S.-based website, northcountrypublicradio.org, has identified the Indian snowshoe racer as Tanveer Hussain, 24.

Mr. Hussain, a J&K Bank employee, is on a visit to Saranac Lake for an international snowshoe competition. “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 .

According to the

Enterprise , Hussain is accused of “inappropriate sexual behaviour with an underage girl, contact which allegedly took place on Monday in the village of Saranac Lake.”

In a statement released by the Saranac Lake Village Police, according to a U.S.-based newspaper, the officials accused Mr. Hussain of “engaging in a passionate kiss with a 12-year-old girl”.

“He further was accused of touching her in an intimate area over her clothing…There was no accusation of force. The charges result of the age differences of the individuals. There were no other allegations made against Mr. Hussain," the police is quoted as saying.

In January this year, The Hindu reported that two Kashmiri athletes, including Mr. Hussain, were denied visa by the U.S. embassy in India “due to the Donald Trump administration’s tough laws”,  an accusation denied by the U.S. administration later.

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Mr. Hussain was allowed a visa to enter the U.S. for the competition, according to the website, following intense lobbying from local officials and residents in the Adirondacks, as well as by U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer.