WFI chief asked for sexual favours, touched women wrestlers inappropriately – Details of 2 FIRs, 10 complaints

The details of the registered two FIRs and ten complaints against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh have been revealed. As per the accessed document at New Delhi’s Connaught Place Police Station, Brij Bhushan Singh had asked for sexual favours from the female wrestlers and also inappropriately touched a minor.  

As per the document, there are ten complaints of the WFI chief touching female wrestlers in a sexually offensive manner, including minors, despite being repeatedly asked not to do so.

Police, in a statement to the media, said while these complaints against Brij Bhushan got registered on April 21st, the two FIRs were lodged against him seven days later on April 28th. Those FIRs are under four sections – 354, 354(a), 354(d) and 34, which accounts for a three-year term behind bars.

In the two FIRs, the first one got registered by six Olympic wrestlers, while second one mentions the allegations levelled by the father of a minor. In that one, she revealed the WFI Chief held her shoulders tightly and even touched her inappropriately on the pretext of getting a photo clicked with him. In her complaint, she also stated that she had asked Brij Bhushan Singh not to follow her afterwards.

The wrestlers, meanwhile, were protesting at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for the arrest of the WFI chief over alleged sexual assault. While the ongoing tussle with Delhi Police painted a sorry picture for these medal winners, the farmers’ outfits from nearby states in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab carried protests in their support.

On Thursday, the farmers’ outfits from Uttar Pradesh held a ‘Khap Maha Panchayat showing solidarity with these protestors. 

Meanwhile, BJP’s Union Leader, Rakesh Tikait, during the congregation in Soram village in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar, also said they had decided on meeting the President Droupadi Murmu and will then hold another maha panchayat in Haryana’s Kurukshetra on Friday to discuss next steps. 

However, the Union Sports Minister, Anurag Thakur, said the ruling government is handling the issue ‘sensitively’, and that they had agreed to the wrestlers’ earlier demands.

“The wrestlers asked for an FIR, which has been filed by Delhi Police. A committee of administrators has been set up by the WFI as they demanded that its office bearers shouldn’t be allowed to function,” Thakur told reporters during a visit to Mumbai.