AHMEDABAD: A video clip showing the swimming coach of Rajpath Club flogging two young girls went viral on Friday, sending shock waves through the city. At a time when the central government has banned corporal punishment in schools, the video outraged citizens who took to social media to denounce the coach.In the video, the coach, identified as Hardik Patel, is seen scolding one of the two girls. “Come here or I will give you a kick”, he tells her near the club’s pool. He then whips her. The 43-second video shows Hardik telling the second girl to step up. “Come here and stand straight, or I will kick you so hard that you will fall straight into the water,” he says. He then whips her too.Facing intense criticism for the brutality, Rajpath club president Jagdish Patel said: “The alleged incident occurred on Thursday evening. As soon as the matter was brought to our notice, we took a call to suspend Hardik.” He went on to say: “Our internal inquiry has revealed that he whipped the girls with the neck cord of his whistle.”Patel said: “Indiscipline will not be tolerated at our 40-year-old club. How dare someone touch our club members?” He went on to say: “I have taken the decision to terminate his services soon and I am prepared to file an FIR too.” But he said that the club was considering various representations from some parents favouring Hardik.Despite several attempts, Hardik could not be reached for comment. The club management confirmed that Hardik had not reported for duty on Friday. However, the management is in a fix, because despite the video, parents of the two girls and of scores of other kids who are coached by Hardik want his services to be retained.“We are puzzled,” Patel said. “The parents of the two girls and of the kids who are coached by Hardik for state and national competitions have said that the incident occurred in front of the mother of one of the two girls and she does not have any objection.”Club members said that Hardik coached students for the national level and that both the girls were part of the batch. He currently coaches 300 kids at the club. “Parents have, in fact, told us that to be able to compete at the national level, they have given consent to the coach to be strict with the kids,” said the club president. “In fact, the coach has said that training of that intensity was not required for the national level, but parents want their children to win gold.”The club management as well as the group of parents, however, remain tight-lipped about the reason for Hardik’s fury. A source aware of the matter said that the girls were flogged for poor performance in the run-up to a competition they were set to participate in. “Hardik, who is a national-level gold medallist in swimming, has coached students at the Sports Club. He has been with Rajpath for a year and a half,” the source said.“Hardik has coached several kids in the club who have won medals in inter-club, state, and national swimming competitions,” said a parent. “He has taken due care of our kids and we don’t think he should be suspended.”

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