Day after winning the gold medal in the 66kg category, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has registered a legal complaint in France for online harassment she faced during the Paris Olympics. (Medal Tally|Schedule & Results| Full Coverage)
Khelif copped a lot abuse and criticism from the Internet users all over the world with false claims about her gender being circulated on social media sites.
Khelif's lawyers confirmed on Sunday that the Algerian boxer had filed a legal complaint alleging she was a victim of online abuse.
According to news agency AP, the complaint was filed on Friday with a special unit in the Paris prosecutor's office for combating online hate speech. In the complaint, it was alleged that the newly-crowned Olympic champion faced “aggravated cyber-harassment”.
In a statement, her lawyer Nabil Boudi described the abuse as a “misogynist, racist and sexist campaign” against the boxer.
Khelif beat Yang Liu of China 5-0 in the final of the women's welterweight division to ger her career's biggest prize. The crowd backed Khelif fully during the final, which took place at the Roland Garros, by chanting her name and waving Algerian flags.
As per AP, it is now in the hands of the prosecutors to decide whether to open an investigation into the complaint or not. As is common in French law, the complaint doesn't name an alleged perpetrator but leaves it to investigators to determine who could be at fault.
Khelif found herself in the centre of a massive controversy regarding her gender after her punch forced Italy's Angela Carrini to withdraw just 46 seconds into the Round of 16 bout. Speculations over the gender of Khelif have dominated social media debates since then.
Khelif along with Taiwan's Li Yu Ting were barred from competing in women's boxing after failing a gender eligibility test, the details of which are unknown, undertaken by the now-suspended International Boxing Association. International Olympic Committee allowed the two boxers to compete in the Paris Games and both of them won gold medals in their respective categories.
Khelif said that the spread of misconceptions about her “harms human dignity.”
