The Rouse Avenue Court on Friday summoned BJP MP and Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh after taking cognisance of the chargesheet in the case of sexual harassment allegations levelled agaonst him by some of the country’s top wrestlers.
The court has listed the matter for July 18. The court has also issued summons to Vinod Tomar, the Assistant Secretary of Brij Bhushan Singh.
Delhi Police had earlier filed two FIRs and 10 complaints based on sexual harassment allegations by wrestlers against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The complaints against the WFI chief mentioned his attempts at inappropriate touching, putting his hand over the chest of girls, moving his hand from the chest to the back and chasing them, among others.
One FIR was filed against the six-time MP under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.
Besides this case, another FIR was filed against Singh based on allegations made by a minor wrestler which was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. However, the father of the minor later took back his complaint. Following this, the police filed a cancellation report for this case citing there was no “corroborative evidence”.
The police then filed a chargesheet on June 15 against Brij Bhushan with the the Rouse Avenue Court.
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct, and even issued a defiant statement refuting all charges.
Wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat were among the athletes who started a protest against the WFI chief in April at Jantar Mantar. The government had assured the wrestlers that a chargesheet will be filed against the outgoing Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Singh by June 15, following which they had halted their protest.