The court declared him guilty on May 15, and the sentence was pronounced on Wednesday, after which he was taken back into custody. Vedwan received five years of rigorous imprisonment under Section 10 of the POCSO Act and three years under Section 12, with both sentences to run concurrently.
The case originated in April 2023 when the minor archer alleged that Vedwan sexually harassed her during youth championship trials at the Sports Authority of India center in Sonipat.
Per the complaint, the coach entered her hotel room around 4 am on April 7 and made inappropriate advances.
The player claimed she resisted for about 15-20 minutes before escaping to the room of other female players.
She further accused Vedwan of persistently pressuring her to stay in his room during subsequent tournaments, allegedly promising to help her become a “big player” if she complied.
After informing her family, a complaint was lodged with the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board.
Following an internal investigation, the family was advised to file a police report in Sonipat, leading to a case being registered in August 2023 under IPC Section 354A and Sections 10 and 12 of the POCSO Act.
Vedwan was arrested in 2023 and remained in jail until being granted bail just before the Paris Paralympics in 2024.
During his absence, his wife, Abhilasha Chaudhary, took over as India’s para archery coach.
Vedwan’s rise
A former national-level archer and ex-Army personnel, Vedwan had established a commendable reputation in para archery.
He was appointed India’s para archery coach for the 2018 Asian Para Games and retained the position for the Tokyo Paralympics, where Harvinder Singh secured India’s first Paralympic medal in archery.
Building on those successes, Vedwan had also applied for the Dronacharya Award prior to the allegations coming to light.
He is particularly known for mentoring armless para archer Sheetal Devi, assisting her in developing a distinctive shooting technique utilizing her feet, shoulder, and chin.
Under his leadership, she clinched gold medals at the 2023 Asian Para Games and became a world champion in 2025—the first female armless archer to achieve this.
Born with phocomelia, a rare congenital disorder causing underdeveloped limbs, Sheetal joined Vedwan’s academy after being discovered in Jammu and Kashmir.
In 2019, Vedwan also identified quadruple amputee Payal Nag through a social media post and invited her to his academy at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex in Katra.
Payal recently triumphed over 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 shared with PTI from Sonipat.
