NEW DELHI: The agitating wrestlers on Friday announced that they have no faith in Delhi Police and they would continue to protest against the President of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh until he was arrested.
The Delhi police, on Friday, finally booked the WFI Chief almost a week after India's top grapplers resumed their protests.
Respecting the Supreme Court’s order, the wrestlers said that they don’t have any faith in the Delhi police and their fight is not only limited to the FIR. “Our fight is to punish people like Brij Bhushan Singh who should be behind bars and removed from his portfolio,” said the wrestlers.
This reaction has come after Delhi Police told the SC that an FIR will be filed on Friday against the WFI Chief. Responding to this, Brij Bhushan Singh said that he welcomed whatever the court had decided and would cooperate when required.
Two FIRs have been registered at the Connaught Place police station on the complaints lodged by female wrestlers.
The first FIR pertains to allegations by a minor, which has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act along with relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code concerning outraging modesty.
The second FIR is for a comprehensive probe into complaints by adults under relevant IPC sections pertaining to outraging of modesty.
Apparently, the Delhi Police were forced to take action as the matter came under the Supreme Court’s glare. To save face, the police told the court they have decided to book Singh on Friday itself.
Meanwhile, eminent sports personalities including Neeraj Chopra, Kapil Dev, Sania Mirza, Nikhat Zareen and others on Friday extended their support for the protesting wrestlers.
“It hurts me to see our athletes demanding justice. They have worked hard to represent our great nation and make us proud. As a nation, we are responsible for safeguarding the integrity and dignity of every individual, athlete or not,” tweeted Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra.
On Friday, Delhi’s health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and women and child development minister Atishi expressed support for the protesting wrestlers by visiting them. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will meet the wrestlers on Saturday, said an AAP official.
Apart from this, senior politicians like Ashok Gehlot, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Jayant Singh and others also shared words of solidarity. Wrestlers on Friday put up a poster at the protest site which highlighted the various cases that have been registered against the WFI President.
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.
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 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.
Earlier this week, the grapplers once again began their protests citing that nothing has been done so far to resolve their issues and that the wrestlers are here to save wrestling.
(With inputs from Ujwal Jalali, ENS)
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