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Two players in Australia’s Women’s World Cup cricket squad have allegedly been stalked and touched inappropriately while in India for the women’s ODI cricket tournament.
A man has been arrested and charged.
The incident is thought to have happened near the team hotel on Thursday morning, the day after Australia’s six-wicket win over England.
The players have been offered support, and are believed to be OK to continue playing in the tournament.
Australia’s group stage match against South Africa in the city went ahead on Saturday.
“[Cricket Australia] can confirm two members of the Australian women’s team were approached and touched inappropriately by a motorcyclist while walking to a cafe in Indore,” a Cricket Australia spokesperson said on Saturday night.
According to team security, an incident involving inappropriate behavior towards two members of the Australian women’s cricket team has been reported to the police, who are currently investigating the matter.
The Australian team has been spending significant time in Indore during the tournament. The security breach has prompted discussions about the effectiveness of current safety measures.
Rajesh Dandotiya, the additional deputy commissioner of police, informed the Indian news agency ANI that a complaint was filed by the security officers of the Australian team. The officers reported that two players experienced inappropriate conduct.
The local cricket association of Madhya Pradesh issued a statement in which they said they were “deeply pained and shocked by the disturbing incident of misconduct and inappropriate behaviour”.
“As the host, [Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association] extends sincere apologies to the Australian women’s team for this deeply distressing and unfortunate incident,” the statement added.
Australia have spent large parts of this tournament in Indore, a city of five-and-a-half million people in west central India, with the clash with South Africa their third game at Holkar Stadium.
Players will leave the city on Sunday, with a semi-final against India on Thursday in Navi Mumbai.
