Some of India’s celebrated wrestlers have returned to the national capital to stage another round of protests alleging that their demands on punishing the culprit of sexual exploitation had not been met. They’ve vowed to not leave Delhi until police action was initiated against BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Wrestler Vinesh Phogat wrote on Twitter, “Various female wrestlers who have brought laurels to this country in prestigious wrestling competitions have been sexually exploited and harrassed by Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, President, WFI. The Delhi Police is not even registering the FIR despite complaints on 21-04-2023.”
Wrestler Sakshee Malikkh was quoted by NDTV as saying, “We want the report, which has recorded women wrestlers’ statement, to be public. It’s a sensitive issue, one of the complainants is a minor girl.”
Bajrang Punia, another top Indian wrestler, said, “We won’t leave from here until Brij Bhushan is arrested.”
These wrestlers had stunned the government headed by Narendra Modi by accusing Bhushan, a member of the ruling Hindutva party, of sexually exploiting female athletes.
#WATCH | Delhi: Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik break down while interacting with the media as they protest against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Singh pic.twitter.com/OVsWDp2YuA
— ANI (@ANI) April 23, 2023
Faced with embarrassment, the government had formed a seven-member committee to investigate the matter. Bhushan was removed from his post until the investigation was over.These seven members were Olympic medallists Mary Kom and Yogeshwar Dutt, Dola Banerjee, Alaknanda Ashok, Sahdev Yadav and two lawyers.