The Delhi Police have filed two cases against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh after the country’s top wrestlers made allegations of sexual harassment against him.
The Delhi Police, which functions under Amit Shah’s Home Ministry, filed the two first information reports (FIRs) hours after the Supreme Court ordered them to do so, amid protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar by wrestlers including Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat.
One of the FIRs is over a complaint of sexual harassment by a minor, filed under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which gives no scope for bail.
The Delhi Police will pursue the case actively, sources said.
Mr Singh, who is also a BJP MP, welcomed the Supreme Court’s order to file the police case into allegations of sexual harassment against him.
Mr Singh told reporters the wrestlers should have waited for the report of a committee that was tasked to look into the matter before they decided to sit on a protest in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
“I am happy with the judiciary’s decision. The Delhi Police will investigate the allegations and I am ready to cooperate with them in every possible way. No one is bigger than the judiciary in this country. The order has come to file an FIR (first information report). The government had also said it had no objection to filing an FIR. I am not larger than the Supreme Court. I welcome the order,” Mr Singh told reporters.
Sports Minister Anurag Thakur had formed the committee to look into the allegations against the WFI and its chief. The committee, which was told to give a report to the Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry, had given it on April 5. But the ministry has not yet made public the findings of the six-member committee.
“I didn’t raise any objection when the oversight committee was formed, didn’t ask any question or put hurdles. I have followed the law. They (wrestlers) should have waited for the report. But they didn’t. They went to the Supreme Court. I follow the law, but it seems they don’t,” Mr Singh told reporters today.
“I welcome every decision. The one taken by the government, the move to set up an oversight committee, and I welcome the latest decision (of the Supreme Court) because I have not done anything wrong against anyone,” he said.
Despite the assurance of police action, the wrestlers said they will continue their sit-in protest demanding the “immediate arrest” of the WFI chief.
“We respect Supreme Court’s order, but we don’t have faith in Delhi Police. This fight is not for an FIR. This fight is to punish people like him. He needs to be in jail and stripped of his portfolios,” the wrestlers said.
