NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Saturday postponed the hearing on an appeal filed by four women wrestlers challenging the acquittal of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a sexual harassment case.
The appeal, filed on Friday, also challenges the acquittal of former WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar on charges of criminal intimidation.
The matter was not taken up on Saturday as Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh was away attending judicial training. Court staff said the case would now be heard on Monday.
On August 3, a magisterial court acquitted Singh in the sexual harassment case brought by six women wrestlers, citing insufficient evidence. Tomar was also acquitted in the case.
In their appeal, the wrestlers argued that the trial court's decision was legally unsustainable and based on what they described as an erroneous and selective assessment of the evidence. They alleged that the judgment relied on assumptions and inferences rather than established legal principles.
The petition further contended that the magistrate's reasoning was influenced in significant part by what the appellants described as outdated and stereotypical notions about how victims of sexual harassment or assault are expected to behave. According to the plea, the evidence should instead have been assessed objectively while taking into consideration the circumstances faced by the complainants.
(With inputs from PTI)
