Top Indian wrestlers have returned to New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to continue their protest against the Wrestling Federation of India and its then-president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
WEB DESK
Having waited for three months, Top Indian wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and others, on Sunday returned to Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to protest against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and its president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for allegedly sexually assaulting the women wrestlers.
Olympic medalists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, as well as World Championship medalist Vinesh Phogat, returned to New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Sunday (April 23) to protest the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and its former president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Seven female wrestlers filed a sexual harassment complaint against federation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh at the Connaught Place police station in Central Delhi.
The protesters, who claimed that their demands were not met despite assurances after their previous protest, slept on the footpath at Jantar Mantar overnight.
“We won’t leave from here until Brij Bhushan is arrested,” Bajrang Punia, one of the wrestlers said.
The women wrestler’s protest against the WFI started earlier this year on January 18 when they levelled sexual harassment charges against the coaches of the institution.
why they are protesting:
The protesters said seven female wrestlers, including a minor, filed a sexual harassment case against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Friday. However, an FIR is yet to be registered in the matter.
On asking about the filing of the FIR, SHO Connaught Place told the complainants that he couldn’t guarantee that an FIR will be filed, they claimed.
They further said that a six-member panel headed by the great boxer Mary Kom submitted its report in the first week of April. However, the government did not make the report public.
The protesters also said Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, also a BJP MP, is running the federation despite such serious charges. They, therefore, demanded new coaches and physios for the future training of wrestlers.
The complainants said despite their repeated attempts they weren’t getting a response from government officials.