Kochi: A cricket coach Manu M of Thiruvananthapuram has been found guilty of crimes including rape by a city fast track Special Court (POCSO).
The court will on Tuesday pronounce its punishment against Manu who was booked in six different sexual abuse cases out of which the court has completed trial in four cases.
On May 30, the court convicted him for 16 years and under different sentences which will run concurrently for five years.
The court also slapped a penalty of Rs 24,000 which if not paid will result in his jail term increasing by an additional two-and-a-half years.
The court is currently hearing two cases against him.The prosecution examined 14 witnesses and produced 25 documents as evidence before the court.
The convict had been blackmailing students through video clippings since 2018. The matter surfaced after one of the survivors in 2024 accused him of abusing her following which the others lodged complaint against him.
The present case pertains to the sexual abuse of a girl trainee who was studying in class 7 when she joined the coaching centre where Manu worked as a coach. According to the prosecution, the abuse took place in the gymnasium of the coaching facility. The survivor did not immediately disclose the abuse as she feared it would adversely affect her cricket career.
The conviction comes nearly two years after allegations against Manu triggered one of the biggest safeguarding controversies in Kerala cricket. In May 2024, a former trainee approached authorities with a complaint after discovering that Manu had been assigned as a coach for the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) TCM Pink T20 Challengers tournament despite having previously faced allegations of sexual assault.
The complaint prompted several other former trainees to come forward. Police subsequently registered multiple cases against Manu under the POCSO Act over incidents allegedly spanning several years. Survivors and their parents had alleged that he used his position as a coach to groom and sexually abuse minor girls undergoing cricket training.
The case also raised questions about the response of the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA). Earlier reports had revealed that concerns regarding Manu’s conduct towards girl trainees had been raised within the association years before the criminal cases surfaced publicly. The KCA had also faced criticism for continuing to engage him in coaching roles after an earlier POCSO case was registered against him in 2022. That case ended in acquittal after the complainant changed her statement.
According to information presented before the court, Manu has been accused of abusing five other girls as well. A total of six cases were registered against him, and trial proceedings have been completed in four of them.
The latest verdict marks the first conviction in the cases that emerged from the complaints filed by former trainees in 2024.
Cricket coach convicted for sexual abuse
