 "Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh")
Delhi Police on Tuesday sent a notice to wrestling federations of five nations where the top Indian wrestlers alleged sexual harassment by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh during tournaments.
The police have sought information and CCTV footage from Indonesia, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan, as alleged by the wrestlers in their FIR on April 21, the Hindustan Times reported.
The notices were reportedly sent within a week of lodging the FIR against Brij Bhushan and came to the fore just recently.
A senior Delhi police official told HT that they had written to different federations within a week of lodging the FIRs and some have even replied. "I don’t know why this issue is being raked up again,” he added.
The police are preparing to file a chargesheet in the court by June 15 latest.
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By far, statements of over 200 people, including the protesting wrestlers, coaches, and referees have been recorded by the Delhi police. Statements of Brij Bhushan's colleagues at the WFI were also recorded.
According to a news report, the Delhi Police asked two women wrestlers who have Brij Bhushan of touching their breasts and stomach on the pretext of checking their breathing, to provide evidence in the form of photographs, audio, and video to back their allegations.
Four of the six women athletes on Sunday provided audio and visual evidence to corroborate their allegations.
Brij Bhushan's take
The BJP MP and WFI chief, accused of sexually harassing female wrestlers, on Sunday, said he will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Kaisarganj again and was awaiting the court's verdict to speak on the grapplers' stir.
He was replying to queries from media persons after addressing a rally in the district's Balpur area where he skipped any direct reference to the wrestlers' protest for his arrest and chose to target the Congress over the Emergency, Ram temple, the 1984 anti-Sikhs riots, and other issues.
Asked by the reporters why he was not commenting on the wrestlers' protest and what was he waiting for, the BJP MP said, "Court ke faisle ka (court's verdict)."
On whether he will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Gonda or Ayodhya, Singh said, "Kaiserganj Lok Sabha seat se chunav ladunga, ladunga, ladunga (I will definitely contest from Kaiserganj)."
An international referee backs women wresters' claims
International referee Jagbir Singh on Thursday claimed that he has been a witness to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's inappropriate behaviour towards female grapplers on several occasions since 2013.
Brij Bhushan is currently under scrutiny after top Indian wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, and Sakshi Malik, demanded his arrest for alleged sexual harassment of women grapplers.
"I am an UWW referee since 2007 and I have been a referee before the birth of the protesting wrestlers. I also know Brij Bhushan for a long time," Jagbir told PTI.
"I couldn't say much because until the girls register complaints, I could not do anything. But I saw the episode with my own eyes and felt bad," he said.
Jagbir, who has been a coach-cum-international referee since 2007, said he witnessed Brij Bhushan's misbehaviour with his own eyes on numerous occasions.
"After he became the president during his second tour in 2013 in Kazakhstan, the president told us 'I will feed you Indian food today' and he arranged a party in the junior wrestlers' hotel," he claimed.
"Brij Bhushan and his accomplices from Thailand were drunk and they misbehaved with the girls and I was a witness to that.
"In 2022, I witnessed something. Whenever the president used to travel inside the country for national tournaments, two to three girls were always with him but we could never protest. We have seen that with our eyes."
(With inputs from agency)
