Indian Chess Champion Dronavalli Harika Among players Who Were Sent Sexually Abusive Mail

Police said the players received e-mails during the Grand Swiss tournament in November.

Hyderabad: Dronavalli Harika, an Indian chess champion, was one of several players accused of receiving sexually harassing mails during a tournament in Latvia last November. The Indian Grandmaster, who is rated 11th in the world, stated she was unaware of the incident until the final day. The Grand Swiss tournament organisers in Riga and the FIDE (International Chess Federation) handled the situation professionally.

"I wasn't aware until the final day that a letter had been sent in my name to Riga. To avoid causing any disruption, FIDE held the problem until the final day before handing over the letters to the police. "I was informed of the matter on the last day, and I handed over the legal case to FIDE," Harika told PTI.

She also stated that she did not open the mail and had no problems. "The Riga organisers and FIDE handled the situation quite well," she remarked.

According to the Russian media, about 15 female chess players who participated in the tournament received letters of sexual harassment. Police said the players received mails during the Grand Swiss tournament in November. It was found that letters with racy photos were sent to the hotel room to some players.

Russian Grandmaster Valentina Guinea was among those who received mails of sexual harassment. She said she initially thought she was the only one who had been sexually harassed. 

(With inputs from ABP Desam — It is a Telugu platform of ABP News. For more news, commentary and latest happenings from two Telugu states, follow https://telugu.abplive.com//amp)