National archery coach Kuldeep Vedwan sentenced to 5 years in POCSO case involving minor athlete

Chandigarh: National para archery coach Kuldeep Vedwan, who was arrested in 2023 in a sexual harassment case involving a minor athlete and later released on bail ahead of the Paris Paralympics, was sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment by a Fast Track Special Court in Sonipat.

Vedwan was convicted under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and fined Rs 15,000.

The court had held him guilty on May 15 before pronouncing the sentence on Wednesday, after which he was taken into custody again.

The court awarded Vedwan five years’ rigorous imprisonment under Section 10 of the POCSO Act and three years under Section 12, with both sentences to run concurrently.

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The case dates back to April 2023 when the minor archer alleged that Vedwan sexually harassed her during youth championship trials at the Sports Authority of India centre in Sonipat.

According to the complaint, the coach entered her hotel room around 4am on April 7 and made inappropriate physical advances.

The player alleged she resisted for nearly 15-20 minutes before escaping to another room occupied by female players.

She further accused Vedwan of repeatedly pressuring her to stay in his room during subsequent tournaments, allegedly promising to make her a “big player” if she cooperated.

After the athlete informed her family, a complaint was submitted to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board.

Following an internal inquiry, the family was advised to file a police complaint in Sonipat, where a case was registered in August 2023 under IPC Section 354A and Sections 10 and 12 of the POCSO Act.

Vedwan was subsequently arrested in 2023 and remained in jail before being granted bail just ahead of the Paris Paralympics in 2024.

During his absence, his wife Abhilasha Chaudhary was appointed India’s para archery coach.

Vedwan's rise

A former national-level archer and ex-Army man, Vedwan had built a strong reputation in para archery.

He was appointed India’s para archery coach for the 2018 Asian Para Games and retained the role for the Tokyo Paralympics, where Harvinder Singh won India’s first Paralympic medal in archery.

Riding on those achievements, Vedwan had also applied for the Dronacharya Award before the allegations surfaced.

Vedwan is best known for mentoring armless para archer Sheetal Devi, helping her develop a unique shooting technique using her feet, shoulder and chin.

Under his guidance, she won gold medals at the 2023 Asian Para Games and became the world champion in 2025 -- the first female armless archer to do so.

Born with phocomelia, a rare congenital disorder that led to underdeveloped limbs, Sheetal joined Vedwan’s academy after being spotted in Jammu and Kashmir.

In 2019, Vedwan had also discovered quadruple amputee Payal Nag through a social media post and brought her to his academy at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex in Katra.

Payal recently defeated world No. 1 Sheetal in the final of the World Archery Para Series in Bangkok last month.

“We’re very disturbed. Hopefully he comes out of this soon,” Payal told PTI from Sonipat.