Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has denied all charges against him.
New Delhi:
Amid an escalating campaign for his arrest over sexual harassment allegations, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the embattled chief of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and a member of parliament for the ruling BJP, on Wednesday issued a defiant statement, once again refuting all charges.
“If a single allegation against me is proven, I will hang myself. If you (wrestlers) have any evidence, present it to the Court, and I am ready to accept any punishment,” he said.
Mr Singh’s declaration came on a day when the Delhi Police said the case against him was still being investigated, but then quickly recanted the update.
“Some media channels are broadcasting the news of the police filing the final report in the case filed by the women wrestlers. This news is totally wrong. This case is still under investigation and a proper report will be placed in the court only after complete investigation,” it said in a tweet in Hindi from its official account that was soon deleted.
The Delhi Police deleted this tweet.
The tweet had appeared to clarify an unnamed Delhi Police officer’s statement to some media outlets, claiming they have not found sufficient evidence to prove the allegations made by female wrestlers or to warrant the influential politician’s arrest. The police will submit a report to court within 15 days, they said.
“During the investigation so far, the police have not found sufficient evidence to arrest the WFI chief. There is also no supportive evidence to prove their (wrestlers) claim. A report will be submitted to court within 15 days, which could be in the form of a charge sheet or final report,” the officer was quoted as saying.
The statement came amid the ongoing protests by Indian wrestlers against Mr Singh. The athletes, including Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, and Asian Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat, had launched the campaign in January this year demanding action against Mr Singh. They allege that Mr Singh has sexually harassed several female athletes.
In a dramatic event on Tuesday, the top wrestlers, accompanied by hundreds of supporters, gathered on the banks of the Ganga in Haridwar. They threatened to immerse their medals in the holy river as a mark of protest against the inaction towards Mr Singh.
However, they refrained from doing so after being convinced by prominent farmers’ leader Naresh Tikait and other Khap and farmer leaders, who sought five days to address their grievances.
Naresh Tikait, the head of the Balyan Khap and leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), has announced that a ‘mahapanchayat’ will be held in Muzaffarnagar’s Sauram village on Thursday to discuss the ongoing protests in detail.
Several representatives of different khaps and their heads hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Delhi are expected to participate in the mahapanchayat to decide the next course of action in the wrestling protest.
Several wrestlers were detained by Delhi Police on Sunday and FIRs were filed against them for violation of law and order. Their campsite was also cleared when they tried to move towards India’s new parliament building.
Internationally, the United World Wrestling (UWW), the sport’s governing body, issued a statement condemning the detention of the wrestlers and criticizing the “lack of results” in the investigations against Mr Singh. The UWW reminded the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) of its promise to hold fresh elections for the WFI within 45 days and warned that failure to do so may lead to the suspension of the federation.