New Delhi [India], October 9 (ANI): Advocate Akash Krishna, counsel for boxer Mary Kom's ex-husband, Karong Onkholer, said on Friday that a defamation complaint had been filed against the boxer, alleging that statements made by her on various platforms amounted to character assassination.
The defamation complaint against Mary Kom was filed before the Saket Court in Delhi. The complainant alleged that during a television interview, Kom made false, malicious and defamatory statements concerning him with the intention of harming his reputation.
The complaint was filed on October 6, and the same is pending before the court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Shivam Gupta for pre-summoning evidence. The matter will be heard by the court on November 19.
Advocate Akash Krishna said the complaint had been filed under Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), alleging that Kom's statements accusing her former husband of misusing her funds amounted to character assassination. He said the court would record the complainant's pre-summoning evidence and examine witnesses on November 19.
"We have filed a defamation case against boxer Mary Kom. The petition has been filed on behalf of her ex-husband. We have all witnessed how a smear campaign has been carried out against him. The matter is now sub judice before the Court, so I will not say much about the merits of the case. As we have seen, she has appeared on various platforms, accusing him of misusing her funds and making allegations that amount to character assassination. These statements are defamatory. We have filed a defamation complaint under Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The next date has been fixed for November 19, when the pre-summoning evidence of her ex-husband, the complainant, will be recorded. The court has admitted the complaint, but it must now record statements and examine the complainant and witnesses," he said.
According to the complaint, Karong Onkholer stated that he married Mary Kom on March 12, 2005, and that the couple subsequently resided together in Faridabad. Their marriage was dissolved through customary practice on December 20, 2023.
It is stated that the Complainant, prior to and during the subsistence of the marriage, sacrificed his own career and professional pursuits in order to support and enable the professional career of Mary Kom.
This is stated as the true factual position between the parties, and directly contradicts the imputation made by her in the statements set out that the complainant has no career and has never been gainfully employed.
The complainant said that Mary Kom is an internationally renowned boxing champion and public figure of very substantial standing, who has a wide public following and regularly appears on national television and other media platforms.
It is alleged that on January 11, 2026, after the said divorce, she appeared as a guest on the television programme of long standing which commands a viewership running into millions of persons across India.
The complainant has alleged that, in the said TV programme and interview conducted before a live studio audience and thereafter telecast to the general public, she made the false, malicious and defamatory statements concerning the complainant, with the intention of harming, and with the knowledge and reason to believe that such statements would harm, the reputation of the complainant, each of which was published to the public at large by the channel by broadcasting the same, the same having been made and published after the dissolution of their marriage.
The complainant further contended that an ordinary, reasonable viewer would understand the statements, individually and collectively, to portray him as dishonest, unfaithful, unemployed, financially dependent on Kom, dependent on alcohol, and someone who had misappropriated money from her bank accounts and abandoned his responsibilities towards his children.
According to the complaint, these alleged imputations harmed his moral character, credibility and standing as a spouse and parent, constituting defamation under Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. (ANI)
“Smear campaign carried out against him”: Mary Kom's ex-husband's lawyer on defamation complaint
