Mohammed Shami has been charged with non-bailable offences by the Kolkata Police under Indian Penal Code 498A and Indian Penal Code 354A for dowry harrassment and sexual harrassment, respectively. Shami has been embroiled in a year-long battle with his wife Hasin Jahan who made these allegations against the Indian pacer.
"The chargesheet has been filed against Shami under IPC 498A (for mental and physical torture, and dowry harassment) and 354A (for sexual harassment and assault," Dip Narayan Pakrashi, public prosecutor in the eastern city of Kolkata, told AFP.
"If charges are proved (in court), the punishment may amount to five years imprisonment and fine," Pakrashi added.
The spat between Shami and his wife came to the fore in March 2018 when Hasin Jahan had posted some screenshots alleging that her husband was having an affair. Hasin Jahan had even levelled match fixing accusations against Shami following which he was omitted from the central contracts list by the BCCI pending investigations. BCCI therefore completed their internal investigation on match fixing accusations and gave him a clean chit and reinstated his central contract.
Shami had publicly addressed these claims and rubbished them saying that it was all a plan to defame him. Following the personal ordeal, Shami's on-field performances also took a hit as he failed to pass a fitness test to be excluded from India's Test match against Afghanistan.
But the pace bowler has made a fantastic comeback to cricket as he has been one of India's premier fast bowlers in Test cricket. His form with the red ball has spilled over to ODI cricket wherein he is expected to be an integral part of India's World Cup squad. "One man, if I have to single out, over the last five or six months is the man who took the man of the series today (Shami). It hurt him when he got the kick up the backside and he was dropped from the side for [failing] the yo-yo test. Went back, did the hard yards, came back fit and has not broken down since. Across all formats, he has been simply outstanding. Right through this series, whenever he has played, he has given us those early breakthroughs," Shastri said.
"[Shami has been] very impressive. In fact, now that you mention seam position – he was showing Bharat Arun this morning Anderson's ball comes like this and someone else's comes like this (gesturing seam positions)." He added that Arun asked Shami to keep doing what he does because there is nobody in world cricket quite like him. "Your seam position, they must be looking at your seam position – the way it is coming out, so stick to that and don't try to imitate anyone else," Shastri recounted Arun as saying to Shami.
But the recent revelation casts a serious doubt on Shami's future.
