Wrestlers flagged same charges before oversight panel, but no action taken

AS EARLY as in February, the wrestlers had flagged their allegations of sexual harassment against WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh while deposing before the Oversight Committee set up the government.
But, while the Delhi Police found Singh “liable to be prosecuted and punished for offences” on the basis of the same allegations, the Oversight Committee did not raise a single red flag or recommend police action in its report submitted to the Sports Minry in April.

The six-member committee, led former boxing World Champion Mary Kom, was set up on January 23, in the wake of the first protests in January, and it held hearings in February.
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh at the Constitution Club in New Delhi on Thursday. (PTI)
On April 24, the government released the committee’s “major findings”, which, while highlighting structural lapses within the federation, including the absence of an Internal Complaints Committee, remained silent on the allegations against Singh.
This despite a dozen players, coaches and support staff either accusing Singh of sexual harassment or corroborating the allegations.
Following the lack of action, and their loss of faith in the committee, wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia returned to Jantar Mantar on April 23, where they continued to protest for nearly two months. They called off their stir last month, following meetings with Union Home Miner Amit Shah and Sports Miner Anurag Thakur who assured expedited investigation.

The contents of the probe committee’s report are mentioned in toto in the Delhi Police chargesheet, and have been submitted as an annexure.
During the deposition, one wrestler complained that Singh touched her “stomach and chest 3-4 times and continued to comment on her breathing pattern”. “She felt very traumatised this act and was unable to eat properly. Being young, she was unable to muster courage to speak up,” the committee noted.
This pattern was repeated on more than one wrestler, it said. Another wrestler claimed that Singh pulled her towards him and put “his arms around her wa” while photographs were being taken when she won the gold medal at a domestic tournament last year, said the report.
A third wrestler claimed that when group photographs were being taken during a selection trial last year, Singh “touched her… behind, which made her feel very uncomfortable”, it said.
One wrestler also told the committee that she felt “uncomfortable” with the behaviour of national team coaches who hugged her and carried her on their shoulders. When a committee member said this was a “prevalent” custom in wrestling, the athlete replied that she was not comfortable with such behaviour, the panel noted.
The wrestler said this was verbally brought to the attention of Sports of Authority of India officials after the World Championships in 2022. The report said this was “brought to the notice of CEO TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) and was under consideration”.
Apart from Mary Kom, the other members of the committee were London Olympics bronze medal-winning wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, former badminton player Trupti Murgunde, former SAI executive director Radhica Sreeman, former chief executive of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme Rajesh Rajgopalan, and former wrestler Babita Phogat.