Mumbai:
In September last year, a brilliant hat-trick by Odafe Okolie helped the Churchill Brothers lift the Durand Cup. Earlier that month, the Goa team had won the IFA Shield, another victory that Odafe helped script. In both matches the team beat Kolkata's Mohun Bagan.
The two teams are scheduled to clash again tomorrow, and there is a buzz about Odafe, but not due to his on-field heroics this once. The 23-year-old Nigerian striker was arrested last night, along with another Churchill Brothers player and the team manager, for allegedly molesting a Spicejet airhostess.
Odafe who got bail on Wednesday morning, says he is innocent but can't do much because he is a foreigner, but Mumbai Police say they have enough evidence to show that the airhostess was molested. "We will chargesheet the football players...They tried to outrage the modesty of the airhostess," said Additional Commissioner of Police Amitabh Gupta.
Gupta said there were many witnesses to the fact that there was intent to outrage the modesty of the airhostess and the police would record their statements. "This began as soon as the flight took off from Goa," he said.
The Goan team was on its way from Goa to Kolkata to play the I-league when the incident occurred. Spicejet offloaded the three accused at Mumbai, and the entire team decided to deplane.
In a statement, the airline said: "Some passengers misbehaved with and abused the crew of the flight SG 804 from Goa to Kolkata via Mumbai. In the interest of the safety of other passengers, our pilot took a decision to offload them in Mumbai during the scheduled transit halt."
The airhostess filed a complaint with the Mumbai Airport Police and the three were arrested. They were put through a medical test to check if they were under the influence of alcohol. On Wednesday morning, they got bail and were to be produced in a local court in Mumbai.
Odafe denies the incident vehemently, (
Watch: Footballer denies molestation charge) and the club's owner Joaquim Alemao has said he will file defamation case. (
Watch: Club owner to file defamation case)
The team management insists it is a case of misunderstanding, giving a character certificate to its players. "It was not intentional, they wouldn't do something like that," said Carlos Silva, head coach, Churchill Brothers