Sandeep Singh sexual harassment case: Cops want to brain-map ex-Haryana sports minister

Sandeep Singh, the former Haryana sports minister facing sexual harassment allegations, may undergo brain mapping. The Chandigarh Police has moved an application in a district court seeking permission to map the brain of the former minister. Sandeep Singh, 37, the former captain of the Indian national hockey team, has been accused of sexual harassment by a junior woman athlete coach. After the allegations surfaced, Singh resigned from his post handing over his cabinet charge. 

What is Sandeep Singh accused of?

In December 2022, Sandeep Singh was booked for allegedly sexually harassing a junior athletics coach in the state. The female coach alleged that the then-sports minister harassed her from February to November last year, through repeated messages on social media, touched her inappropriately and also threatened her in messages. She subsequently filed a complaint with the Chandigarh Police. Singh, however, has denied the allegations calling them baseless and intended to dent his image. 

A case of sexual assault was filed against Singh by the Sector 26 police station in Chandigarh.  An FIR has been filed under sections 354, 354A, 354B, 342, and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

After lodging the complaint, the complainant had called on Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to immediately sack the minister and demanded a special investigation team (SIT) led probe against Singh. 

Sandeep Singh resigned as sports minister on January 1 and an SIT was formed to investigate the case. 

Police want to map Sandeep Singh's brain

The SIT constituted to probe the allegations submitted an application to the district court in Chandigarh on Saturday, seeking permission for conducting brain mapping of the Sandeep Singh. 

"An application for brain mapping of the accused by SIT has been filed by Chandigarh police in the district court. It is under consideration," Ram Gopal (DSP), PRO Chandigarh Police said. "It is part of the investigation. I can't say anything on this," Gopal added.

What is brain mapping? 

Also known as the P-300 test, brain mapping involves questioning a suspect to check if they are hiding any relevant information from law enforcement authorities. Similar to the polygraph, brain mapping involves neuroimaging -- producing images of the brain which are enhanced through data processing or analysis. 

The activation of the brain for the associated memory is carried out by presenting a list of words to the subject. There are three types of words in the list used for Brain Mapping Test: 
1. Neutral words that have no direct relation to the case.
2. Words directly related to the case, including those the suspect has learnt during events related to the case.
3. Targeted words not convered under points one and two. 

Who is Sandeep Singh?

Sandeep Singh is the former captain of the Indian national hockey team. Singh was part of the Indian team that won the silver medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. He currently holds a DSP rank in the Haryana Police.

In his debut election in October 2019, the former Olympian won from the Pehowa constituency in Kurukshetra, defeating Mandeep Singh Chhattha of the Congress by a margin of 5,314 votes. The prolific drag-flicker, nicknamed as “Flicker Singh”, was the only sportsperson among the three fielded by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who made it to the Haryana Assembly, as wrestlers Babita Phogat and Yogeshwar Dutt lost from Dadri and Baroda, respectively in the 2019 polls.

The former hockey player, who comes from Shahabad in Kurukshetra, was paralysed and remained in a wheelchair for two years after accidentally being hit by a bullet on train in 2006. But he did not give up and later made a strong comeback to the national hockey team. After rehab and training following the gunshot injury, Singh emerged as the leading scorer for his country in the 2008 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and was later appointed captain of the Indian team. Under his captaincy, the Indian team clinched the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in 2009.

In 2018, a biopic, Soorma, was made on Singh's life. It was an inspirational story of a player who was paralysed after an accident but did not give up and came back stronger.

AAP and Congress stage protest

Although Singh gave up his sports portfolio on January 1, he continues to be a minister in the Khattar government. He holds charge of the Printing and Stationery Department. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has called for the dismissal of Singh as minister. The Congress too has called for the Haryana minister to give up his remaining portfolio.