Cricket Coach Sentenced to 35 Years for Abusing Trainees in Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram: A cricket coach has been sentenced to 35 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 66,000 for sexually abusing a minor student who had come to him for training. M Manu (40) was sentenced by Special Fast Track Court Judge Anju Meera Birla. He will have to undergo an additional six years and nine months in prison if the fine is not paid. The verdict came in the second of several cases against him, with this sentence to run consecutively after the one already imposed in the first case. The court has also found him guilty in a third case, with the verdict in that matter to be pronounced on Saturday. A total of six cases have been filed against Manu, of which trial has been completed in four. The same court had sentenced him last month in one case.

The case relates to abuse committed by the accused, who ran a well-known cricket coaching centre in Thiruvananthapuram, after taking the child trainee to other parts of the facility under the pretext of training. He had threatened the victim that speaking out would ruin her cricketing future. She subsequently moved to a different location for coaching. Investigations revealed that he had abused five children who came to him for training, all of whom later moved to other coaching centres. The matter came to light when one of the survivors, who had come to participate in a girls' cricket tournament held in Thiruvananthapuram in 2024, spotted the accused and reacted with fear and distress. Following her complaint, other survivors also came forward.

Special Public Prosecutor R S Vijay Mohan, along with advocates Surabhi and H Ravikrishnan Thampi, appeared for the prosecution. Cantonment police inspector Prajeesh Sasi and sub-inspectors S Shefin and Nithin Nalan investigated the case.