India masseur faces judgment day

New Delhi: Dewan Asgar Nabi, the Indian masseur accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old volunteer at the Commonwealth Games village, will be produced before a Melbourne court on Friday after he was given a bail extension.

On Tuesday, a day before the XVIII Commonwealth Games were declared open, a teenaged volunteer had charged Nabi of assualting her when she was cleaning the men's room. The girl complained that the man tried to hug, kiss and fondle her.

She has identified Nabi, a masseur attached to NIS Patiala, during an identification parade conducted at the village on Tuesday.

Victoria Police has charged Nabi on one count of indecent assault and one count of unlawful assault. The charges, if proved, carry a maximum of two years imprisonment.

But Police commissioner Christine Nixon has denied that the level of security at the village would not be raised.

He was suspended from the Indian contingent and expelled from the Games Village on Tuesday itself. His accreditation has been cancelled and his passport has also been seized.

However the Generall Manager of the Indian contingent, Gurbir Singh Sandhu, the man is innocent until he is proven guilty.

"But if it has happened, it's reprehensible and we can condemn such instances," he added.

Indian Olympic Association counsel Paul Horvath said on Wednesday that Nabi, who cannot converse in any language other than Punjabi and Hindi, had denied the charges against him.

No further details of the alleged assault have been released.

Nabi has been ordered to reside in the Games Village, and to inform police investigating the case within 24 hours if he left.

Other conditions of his bail were not to contact any prosecution witnesses, to surrender his passport and to stay away from international departure points such as airports.

But the biggest question that is haunting the Indian officials is how did Nabi make it as a last-minute inclusion in the team?

At NIS Patiala, where Nabi works, many of his colleagues and sportsperson say that he did not deserved to be in the contingent for the games as his conduct has always been very suspect.

He is not even a regular employee of SAI but worked on contract for the last five-six years and his salary is paid by the Union Sports Ministry.