Kashmiri athlete indicted in the US for allegedly sexually abusing a minor girl
A court in New Jersey also charged snowshoer Tanveer Hussain for endangering the welfare of a 12-year-old.
A 25-year-old snowshoer from Jammu and Kashmir has been indicted in the United States for allegedly sexually abusing a minor girl in March, PTI reported on Thursday. An Essex County court in New Jersey last week charged Tanveer Hussain for sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.
“Hussain is alleged to have subjected a 12-year-old female to sexual contact and engaged in inappropriate conversations with said child during the time he was in Saranac Lake,” Essex County District Attorney Kristy Sprague said in a press release, according to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.
The Kashmiri was arrested in March after a 12-year-old girl from Saranac Lake told the police that he had touched her inappropriately on February 27, two days after competing in the World Snowshoe Championships at Dewey Mountain Recreation Center. He had rejected a plea deal, which would have allowed him to return to India, and said that he wanted to clear his name.
Hussain was one of the two athletes who was denied a visa to the US to compete in the snowshoe championship. This was in February around the time US President Donald Trump had issued an executive order banning immigrants, travellers and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries. The US Embassy in New Delhi had said the order did not affect Indians.