Again, India’s top wrestlers spend night sleeping in the open ‘on a footpath’
New Delhi: India’s top wrestlers spent the night sleeping in the open “on a footpath”. Protesting wrestlers are seeking details of the investigation into the sexual harassment claims against Singh. Vinesh Phogat shared a picture of wrestlers sleeping on a Delhi footpath. “From podium to pavement. In the hope of justice under the open sky at midnight,” tweeted Vinesh. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police have sought a report from the probe committee set up by the Ministry of Sports to investigate the sexual harassment allegations against Bhushan Sharan Singh. The officer said that so far seven complaints have been received against the Wrestling Federation of India President and all of them are being investigated. An FIR will be registered after concrete evidence comes to light.
Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur had announced the five-member oversight committee, headed by legendary boxer M C Mary Kom, to look into allegations against Singh, a BJP leader and a muscleman with criminal history.
Female wresters had given a complaint at CP police station on April 21. Following the delay in filing an FIR, Delhi Commission for Women had already issued a notice to Delhi Police. Having waited for three months, star wrestlers again started their protest against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Sunday and said that they took the step alleging after no action was taken in the matter and said that the FIR has not been registered against WFI chief.
Wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who is among the ace wrestlers protesting in Jantar Mantar on Sunday, broke down and asserted that the wrestling community will not go “till we don’t get justice”. “We will sit here day and night till the time we get justice. We will sit here,” Vinesh Phogat got emotional while speaking to the media. “It is about our safety and if we international medal-winning female wrestlers are not safe then who is safe? We are from a wrestling family and we are trying to save it till our last breath,” Phogat added.
When asked about the working of the committee, Vinesh said she is unaware of the working of the committee. “We don’t know what the committee is doing. We are asking for justice and we came in front of the entire public to ask for justice and here we are again.” “It’s been 3 months, and we haven’t got justice, that’s why we are protesting again. We demand justice, FIR has not been registered yet. We are grateful that DCW is supporting us” Wrestler Vinesh Phogat on DCW’s notice to Delhi Police for reportedly failing to register an FIR in sexual harassment case of women wrestlers.
Ace India wrestler Sakshi Malik also broke down while interacting with the media as wrestlers protest at Jantar Mantar. “We wanted to file a sexual harassment FIR against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Two days ago we got a complaint filed but FIR hasn’t been registered yet. There are seven female wrestlers and one of them is a minor. We want the investigation to happen fast. It is a sensitive matter. We are being framed as liars which we cannot bear. We are waiting for two and a half months now but no one is listening. People are saying we are spent force that is why we are protesting. We just won a medal at CWG 2022,” Sakshi Malik told the media at Jantar Mantar.
It is pertinent to mention that top Indian wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Ravi Dahiya, and Sakshi Malik, held a sit-in protest in Jantar Mantar in January this year, demanding that Brij Bhushan be removed from the head office and Wrestling Federation of India be disbanded. They had accused the body and its chief of sexual harassment and mistreatment of wrestlers.
The wrestlers protested against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) in January this year.Following the protest, in January, the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the formation of an ‘oversight committee’ to probe allegations levelled against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and its chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and other coaches. The committee was given the task of submitting a report on the issue to the ministry.
Olympic medalist Mary Kom is heading the Oversight Committee. Former wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, former shuttler Trupti Murgunde, SAI member Radhica Sreeman, ex-CEO of the Target Olympic Podium Plan Rajesh Rajagopalan, and CWG gold medalist Babita Phogat are the other members of the Mary Kom-led committee.