Wrestlers protest: In a setback for the agitating wrestlers, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked them to approach the lower court first. Several wrestlers who have won awards at international competitions have been protesting at Jantar Mantar, demanding that the government make public the findings of an oversight panel that investigated the sexual harassment charges against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Wrestlers argued that, “The accused is giving interviews to TV channels… he’s take names of complainants. He has become a TV star.”
“Next day after registering the FIR the minor was interrogated for 3 hours. No formal 160 notice was given to her. 5 police constables came. Then there was radio silence on part of police. Then yesterday they came… No notice, no complaint despite FIR being registered. Yesterday till late evening, they’re recording statements of 4 girls.”
Taking a strong note of political interference in the protest, where a late night scuffle broke out between the protesting wrestlers and some police personnel, leading to head injuries to a couple of protesters, the court observed that two political leaders of parties went with a truck full of beds, that was prevented to enter the protest. Notably, Delhi Police has claimed that AAP leader Somnath Bharti had brought the folding beds. Reacting to this, wrestler Vinesh Phogat said, “We had ordered for the beds and not Somnath Bharati. And even if he had brought it, don’t we even have the right to sleep. Were we committing a crime by bringing beds, was there a bomb or weapons? Their (Delhi Police) behaviour was very aggressive.”
Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, said, “No threat perception was found out to any complainant. However security has been provided to each & every complainant.”