Picture Credit: NDTV
In a shocking turn of events, photographs and videos of food being served in a toilet to players who participated in a kabaddi tournament in the Saharanpur district have gone viral on the internet. This was a state-level U-17 girls' Kabaddi tournament hosted in the Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh from Friday (September 16) where around 200 players are participating in it.
The one-minute video shows urinals and wash basins in the frame and then turns around to show the rice plate placed on the toilet floor near the door. The players can be seen taking the food and heading out of the toilet. A player talked about the food served to them during the tournament which included rice, dal, sabji and leftover ‘pooris’.
While talking to the Times of India, the player said, "Food, including rice, 'dal' and 'sabji' were cooked in large vessels in a traditional brick oven near the swimming pool. From the vessel, the cooked rice was taken out on a big plate and placed on the toilet floor near its gate. Next to the rice plate, were leftover 'pooris' on a piece of paper on the floor. The rice was then served to the players for lunch on Friday."
The Sports Officer of Saharanpur, Animesh Saxena went on to dismiss the claims and expressed that the food was cooked near the swimming pool and kept in the 'changing room' because of some "unavoidable reasons".
"It was not kept in the bathroom. Because it was raining, we made arrangements for food in the swimming pool area. The food was kept in the changing room next to the swimming pool. The stadium is undergoing some construction work. There was no other place to keep the food because of the rain" said Mr Saxena.