According to recent reports in the media, the allegations of sexual harassment against the chief of the Wrestling Federation of India, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, couldn’t be proven because of a lack of evidence to the contrary. The 6-time MP, currently serving from Kaiserganj, has seen a fair share of controversies even before his three-decade-long political career.
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, acquitted in over 30 criminal cases including one in the TADA act, was accused of sexual harassment in January earlier this year by a group of wrestlers including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajranj Punia, among others, during a protest staged at the Jantar Mantar. They also demanded the WFI President be removed and the entire organisation be disbanded.
With such grave allegations being made against Singh by the wrestlers, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports formed an oversight committee of five members, including MC Mary Kom, to find out what had happened in the case in a month. They later added Babita Phogat to the committee at the behest of the wrestlers and extended the deadline by two weeks. The findings of the sexual harassment case were submitted in early April by the oversight committee but its results are yet to be made public by the Sports Ministry.
A source of PTI revealed the details of the matter, “The wrestlers could not prove their sexual harassment allegations. During the probe, it was alleged that one female physio (name withheld) was asked by Brij Bhushan to give him massage to treat his back pain last year in Bulgaria during a competition. However, during the hearing, the same physio denied any such happening. Instead, she revealed that all Brij Bhushan wanted was a pain killer for headache and when she offered one and was accompanied by a female coach at that time, the WFI boss even refused to take tablet disprin. It was male coach Anil who had actually helped Brij Bhushan.”
Also, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik had submitted their version of events in separate written affidavits to the probe panel set up by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), but they were deemed to have put forward the wrong information regarding the matter.
