India table tennis player Soumyajit Ghosh was accused of raping an 18-year-old woman, according to reports on Thursday. She has lodged an FIR at a police station in Barasat, West Bengal. “We have received a complaint against table tennis player Soumyajit Ghosh and have started an investigation,” a police official told The Hindu.

The woman claimed that she and Ghosh dated after meeting on a social networking site three years ago. “We were in a relationship since last three years, during which he raped me,” she claimed. “He also promised to marry me, but refused later.” Another report said that the woman has also accused Ghosh of getting her pregnant and forcing her to undergo an abortion.

After case was registered, the Table Tennis Federation of India called for an emergency meeting to decide Ghosh’s fate with regard to his participation in Commonwealth Games next month. The 24-year-old paddlers’s chances of going to Gold Coast are hanging by a thread.

“We got to know about the episode through news reports in the morning,” MP Singh, TTFI secretary-general, told the newspaper. “We have managed to acquire a copy of the FIR. Since these are very serious charges, the TTFI has convened an emergency meeting of the executive board on Sunday. We will take an appropriate call in 48 hours.”

He added, “My personal opinion is since the allegations are so grave, Ghosh should be suspended with immediate effect. If the investigation clears him of any wrongdoing, he can return to the fold immediately.”

Ghosh denies allegations 

Ghosh is currently competing in the German Open with other Indian players. The paddlers will return to India on March 25. However, the world No 58 has denied the allegations and claimed that the woman was blackmailing him.

“For the past one year, she has been taking money from me,” he told Hindustan Times. “I have receipts of more than Rs 1 lakh that I have paid her. I also have the documents to prove that I have borne the expenditure of medical treatment of one of her relatives at a private hospital in Kolkata.”

Ghosh acknowledged that they were supposed to get married. “I introduced her as my fiancée publicly after I received the Arjuna award in 2016,” he said. “But I got tired of her blackmailing me only for money.”