India, Jan. 31 -- A cricket coach allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl who was learning the sport under his supervision in Panki area of Kanpur, police said. The coach who worked at a cricket academy is absconding.

The accused, a resident of Gangaganj, allegedly lured the minor to his colony after coaching classes and drugged her before sexually assaulting her, said a police officer, adding that the suspect abused her for two months, before the girl confided in her mother, who filed a complaint at the Panki police station.

The accused also allegedly blackmailed the girl with social ostracisation and hurled caste-based slurs to intimidate her, according to the complaint filed.

An FIR was lodged against the accused...