The Karnataka chapter of the Taekwondo Association of India (TAI) is facing allegations of serious misconduct, including sexual harassment of minors, targeted workplace bullying, and corruption. Among those who have spoken out against the association is Srishti (name changed), an athlete who has represented India at multiple international championships. Srishti has alleged that, in 2015, when she was 16 years old, she was subjected to sexual harassment by an instructor on her team.
Srishti told TNM that despite raising the issue with senior members, no action was taken, which ultimately forced her to temporarily quit the sport. She also said the lack of an Internal Committee (IC) — as mandated by the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, commonly known as ‘PoSH Act’ — has enabled a culture that helps people in power evade accountability.
In one of the three letters sent to the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), dated August 25, 2024, Srishti wrote, “I have witnessed sexual and physical misconduct from various senior instructors who hold power over everyone else.” These people, she alleged, further oppress anyone who tries to speak out about these issues, as the decision to participate in tournaments lies within their authority. This oppression takes various forms, including verbal abuse during training sessions and physical abuse during tournaments and travel, she added.
The letter named three instructors: Kiran Kumar, who allegedly made sexual advances towards Srishti in 2015; another trainer who is accused of trying to sexually assault another female player; and Pradeep Janardhanan, who allegedly physically assaulted a Dalit boy named Dhanush.
Dhanush was a former student who had been helping the association with its operations. He later died by suicide, and the case against Pradeep is pending at the Karnataka High Court. Pradeep, however, was subsequently promoted as one of the Vice Presidents of TAI, as well as Secretary of the Karnataka association.
After Srishti sent repeated emails to the TAI over the past year citing her concerns, the association’s President Rajendran Balan eventually responded on January 30, 2025, acknowledging the receipt of her complaints. He stated that the association has already constituted two committees — a disciplinary committee and a women’s committee — to address matters of this nature. A few days later, senior TAI member Neeral Trivedi, who heads the women’s committee, informed Srishti that she was “looking into the matter” and would submit a report, noting that gathering facts would take time as the case involved incidents dating back as far as 10 years.
What happened 10 years ago
According to Srishti, in December 2015, instructor Kiran Kumar attempted to sexually harass her during the 30th National Taekwondo ITF Championship at New Delhi. She also accused another trainer of trying to harass a female participant in a separate room at the same time.
“When both their attempts were unsuccessful, they built a fake narrative to justify the backlash and accused me of not following team rules,” a letter by Srishti read.
Srishti said she had reported the incident to senior members of the association at the time, but no action was taken.
Speaking to TNM, she said that she quit the sport after this incident due to severe mental stress. “I returned to attend a seminar related to the sport in 2021, but there was no change in the attitude of these men. They would pass patronising judgements, saying things like, ‘Oh, you haven’t changed even now,’” she added.
Srishti said that after the seminar, she was invited for a conversation to address the issues of the past. She said she was offered a beer, before being told that she would need to provide a written statement agreeing to cooperate with the association if she wanted to represent the Karnataka team at the 2022 National Championship. “I replied that I would only provide the letter if they gave it in writing that they wouldn’t sexually harass any player during the tournament. They also offered all possible assistance for me to pursue my career as an instructor,” she said.
Srishti won gold medals at the 2022 Nationals, but did not get another chance to represent the Karnataka team, allegedly due to the accused’s influence. “I decided to represent Tamil Nadu, but an alleged administrative ‘error’ cost me the opportunity to participate in the 2023 Nationals.”
Following these incidents, Srishti decided she would not take part in any events for the foreseeable future until her three demands were met:
The TAI should form an Internal Committee as per the PoSH Act, 2013.
The individuals responsible for harassment, corruption, and misconduct should be dismissed.
A fair and transparent investigation should be held into the culture of bullying, intimidation, and abuse within TAI.
Srishti said it was the lack of accountability shown by the association after Dhanush’s death that prompted many players and instructors, including herself, to speak up. She has also launched a signature campaign with the help of Jhatkaa.org, demanding accountability and reform within the association.
What happened to Dhanush
Dhanush, a Dalit boy who was 19 at the time of his death, was the cousin of Taekwondo instructor Tejas, and died by suicide in November 2019 after being allegedly beaten and injured by TAI’s now-VP Pradeep Janardhanan. TNM accessed the First Information Report (FIR) in the case, which stated that Pradeep assaulted him with a PVC pipe and verbally abused him using casteist slurs, allegedly because Dhanush interacted with Pradeep’s daughter.
“Why are you chatting with my daughter? You belong to a lower caste, while we are from a dominant caste. If you show up again for Taekwondo classes, I will not spare you or your family members alive,” he was reported to have said.
Pradeep was booked under sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Dismissing an anticipatory bail petition filed by Pradeep, the Karnataka High Court observed that the offences mentioned in the FIR fall under the provisions of the SC/ST Act. However, he was never arrested.
The complaint filed by Dhanush’s mother stated that following the assault on him, the 19-year-old cried heavily due to physical and mental pain and feared for his and his family’s lives. According to his mother, Tejas also received a call from “rowdy elements,” which allegedly instigated Dhanush to take his life.
“If this person is not punished, he may continue to play with many other such young/tender lives by taking advantage of his position in the society and in the field of taekwondo. Kindly seize CCTV footage from the spot where my son was attacked and PVC pipe which was used to assault and beat my son,” the complaint read.
‘No change in behaviour’
Tejas, who is 28, said he quit the association after the incident. Until his cousin’s suicide, Tejas used to work as an instructor under Pradeep. “Even back then, he used to raise his hand on the instructors below him and insult them publicly. But it never became a big issue. After I quit, my friends from the association tell me that Pradeep scolds them every time I try to interact with them. I am also not allowed access to tournaments hosted by the federation, while other former trainers are,” he added.
Revathi (name changed), a former member of the TAI, said the association members had also manipulated her into joining an multi-level marketing scheme, where she was asked to pledge her mother’s gold. She alleged that the association denied her permission to attend the belt examination after she expressed her disapproval of the scheme. A belt examination in Taekwondo is a test that students must pass to progress to the next rank (belt level).
A Taekwondo instructor who quit the association and asked to remain anonymous said that Pradeep treated people poorly and made threats of removing them from their jobs. “Those who don’t listen to him are subjected to a lot of mental torture. I had approached a school to ask if they could hire me directly as a trainer and told them that I had problems with the association. Following this, Pradeep and a few others forcibly entered my house and issued threats that I should not do that again,” he alleged.
He also recalled an incident where one of the junior instructors asked Pradeep to apologise for shouting at a person who came late to the training. “Pradeep apologised but continued to behave in the same manner. It’s mostly junior instructors who do all the work while hosting tournaments, yet they are also the ones who are often abused,” he added.
When contacted by TNM, Taekwondo Association of Karnataka president Gunasekaran A said that if the court finds Pradeep guilty, action would be taken against him. Regarding Srishti’s allegations against Kiran Kumar, Gunasekaran said he had not been made aware of any complaints.
TNM attempted to contact Kiran Kumar via phone calls and messages, but he was unreachable.
Inputs by Ajay UK.