Do we like Mary Kom?
Our score: 7 out of 10. A real pioneer who backs young girl boxers, held back from a higher score by one contested vote and a public row that is still before a court.
Mary Kom grew up in a poor farming family in Manipur, where her parents worked the hill fields and she looked after her younger siblings. Her father had boxed himself but didn't want her to, so she trained in secret. She went on to win six world amateur titles and a bronze medal in the 51kg class at London 2012, the first Indian woman boxer to win an Olympic medal.
The big stoush this year started on Aap Ki Adalat in January, when she said her ex-husband had not earned a single rupee. After a backlash she posted an Instagram apology to men she'd hurt, saying her comment “was never for all men”. He hit back with his own claims, which the report notes are unverified.
It has now reached court. Her ex-husband filed a criminal defamation complaint in October, alleging she made damaging and disparaging remarks about him on television and other platforms. The next hearing is on 19 November, no response from her has been reported, and nothing has been proven either way.
Then came Bigg Boss 20, which she entered on 6 September. One remark, where she cut off praise for other Indian sportswomen to point to her own record, had some social media users calling her “narcissistic”. She was evicted after seven weeks, and ANI described her as one of the season's most popular contestants.
On the harm check, nothing nasty turned up. When the Imane Khelif gender row blew up at Paris 2024 she chose not to pick a side, saying “I am nobody to comment.” We found no remarks from her on trans or LGBTQ+ people either way. The one contested mark is her December 2019 Rajya Sabha vote for the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which Swarajya reported she felt protest wouldn't change because the government had made up its mind.
The good stuff is real. She founded the Mary Kom Regional Boxing Foundation in Imphal, which gives free training and board to young boxers. In 2021 Dream Sports Foundation partnered with it to support six girls from underprivileged backgrounds with training, schooling and financial help.