Page 6 - Sexual Harassment Case

Ayodhya seers to rally in support of WFI chief accused of sexual harassment

A group of seers here has announced a rally next week in support of Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who is accused of sexually harassing women grapplers. The seers said they will also protest against the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which they claim "has many loopholes and defective clauses". The country's top wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, have accused Singh, a BJP MP who heads the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), of sexual harassment and are demanding his arrest. The seers said that they will hold the rally at Ram Katha Park in Ayodhya on June 5. "We the seers of Ayodhya and those from other religious places of the country will hold the rally in favour of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh," said Mahant Satyendra Das. "We will also oppose the POCSO Act as it has got many loopholes and defective clauses," he said. Subhash Singh, a close associate and personal assistant of Brij Bhushan Shara

Deepender Hooda appeals to wrestlers not to throw medals into Ganga

The protesting wrestlers plan to throw their medals in the river Ganga in protest against the lack of action against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh

HC to decide which court to hear wrestler's plea against WFI chief

The Delhi High Court Tuesday issued notices to its Registrar General, the city government and the police in order to decide which court shall hear the plea of the minor wrestler, who is among the seven female grapplers who have accused Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment. The issue arose as the cases related to sexual offences against minors have to be heard by a special court set up under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Patiala House Court is the jurisdictional court for hearing POCSO cases. However, the cases involving legislators are heard by a special MP/MLA court which is in the premises of Rouse Avenue Court. The women wrestlers have filed a plea before a trial court seeking monitoring of the investigation and recording of the statement of the alleged victims before the court. A similar plea was also filed by the wrestler who is a minor. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Harjeet Sing

Wrestlers issue: Only allegations made, no evidence given, says Annamalai

Wrestlers who have charged Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) former chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment have only made allegations and not furnished evidence and there is a process of law to be followed after complaints are made, TN BJP president K Annamalai said on Monday. Annamalai, a former IPS officer, said arrests are not made in "99.9 per cent" of FIRs immediately and that even the CBI records arrest only while filing charge sheet and not after the First Information Report. "No evidence has been furnished. Mere allegation (have been made)...government has registered FIR, formed committee, saying it will do a time-bound investigation. But is it fair to demand arrest without clearing the place (Jantar Mantar)," he asked, addressing a press conference here along with Union Minister Jitendra Singh. He said if evidence is released, the Delhi police is duty-bound to act. If a woman makes an allegation against someone and seeks immediate arrest before .

Laws being misused, are flawed: WFI chief on sexual harassment charges

He also said that when the protest first started, the key demand of the wrestlers was to have him step down from his position of WFI chief by 4 PM that day

Tokyo Olympics champion Kawai comes out in support of protesting wrestlers

Tokyo Olympics gold medallist and three-time world champion grappler Risako Kawai of Japan has come out in support of the protesting Indian wrestlers in their fight against former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Top Indian grapplers, including Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik have been protesting at the iconic Jantar Mantar here demanding the arrest of Brij Bhushan, who has been accused of sexual harassment of seven women athletes, including a minor. "I hope it will be an environment where Indian athletes can practice with peace of mind," Kawai wrote retweeting a BBC News video on the wrestlers' protest. Kawai, who won the 57kg women's freestyle gold in Tokyo, is the first high-profile international wrestler to come out in support of the protesting Indian wrestlers. Both Vinesh and Bajrang are probable medallist in this year's Asian Games in Hangzhou, China but for over a month they have not been practising, demanding justice for the alleged victims. The Delhi .

Wrestlers hold candlelight march to India Gate, demands WFI's chief arrest

Carrying the national flag, the protesters marched to India Gate, near the parliament building, with a strong police presence accompanying them

Brij Bhushan's comments on our medals demeaning: Protesting wrestlers

Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia has criticised former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for his alleged comment that a medal is worth just Rs 15 and the grapplers should also return the crores of rupees the government has spent on their training. Brij Bhushan, who is in the eye of a storm for allegedly sexually harassing women wrestlers including a minor, said in a video interview that not just the medals, the athletes should also return the crores of rupees spent on their training. Bajrang, who is leading the protest at Jantar Mantar along with fellow Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik and Asian Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat, said on Friday that the medal Brij Bhushan was demeaning by saying it was worth just Rs 15 had been "earned after 15 years of toil". "He (Brij Bhushan) has not given me the medal in charity. I have earned it for the country with my blood and sweat. He shouldn't have uttered these words if he truly respects our achievements,"

BCCI set to ratify its POSH policy, form World Cup Working Group at SGM

The Indian cricket board will ratify its new Prevention Of Sexual Harassment (PSH) policy at a Special General Meeting (SGM) in Ahmedabad on May 27 while a core "Working Group" will be formed to oversee preparations for the 2023 ODI World Cup in October-November. The PTI has accessed the five point agenda of the SGM agenda including "Formation of Infrastructure Development and Subsidy Sub-Committee, Guidelines for appointment of Physiotherapists and Trainers in state teams, Formation of Working Group for ICC World Cup 2023, Formation of committee of Women's Premier League and Ratification of Prevention of Sexual Harassment Policy". After the sexual harassment accusations against former BCCI CEO Rahul Johri, the BCCI had formed a four-member Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) but more members could be included in the new committee as per revised policy. The Working Group for the ODI World Cup will comprise BCCI president, secretary, treasurer along with acting CEO and other senior .

Youth Cong chief gets interim protection from arrest in harassment case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim protection from arrest to Indian Youth Congress president B V Srinivas in a case lodged by an expelled woman leader of the party from Assam accusing him of causing mental agony. Srinivas had challenged a Gauhati High Court order rejecting his anticipatory bail plea. A bench of Supreme Court Justices B R Gavai and Sanjay Karol issued notices to the Assam government and others, seeking their replies in the matter by July 10. "We have perused the (CrPC section) 164 statement which has been so graciously placed before us by the prosecution. We do not wish to say anything against the state at this stage. "Taking into consideration the one-month delay in lodging FIR, the petitioner is entitled to interim protection," the bench said. The top court also directed Srinivas to cooperate in the investigation and appear before the police on May 22. On May 5, the Gauhati High Court had rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Srinivas in a case lodg

Sibal takes jibe on probe into wrestlers' allegations against WFI chief

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Tuesday expressed doubts about the fairness of the investigation being carried out into the allegations of sexual harassment levelled by women wrestlers against WFI president Brij Bhushan Singh. Sibal, a senior advocate, represented the protesting wrestlers in the Supreme Court. In a tweet, Sibal said, "Investigating: Wrestlers Sexual Abuse. Some investigations move to punish the accused, others to save the accused. The way this investigation is going: We know!" The Delhi Police on Friday informed a special court here that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to probe the allegations of sexual harassment levelled by women wrestlers against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Singh. The submission was made before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal in response to the court's earlier order directing the police to file a status report. The Delhi Police has also recorded the statement of Singh. Police

Protesting wrestlers approach Olympians in other nations for support

The protesting wrestlers on Monday decided to make their "agitation global" by approaching Olympic medallists and athletes from other countries and warned that if their demand for the arrest of former national federation (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is not heeded to, a "big call" will be taken after May 21. India's top wrestlers Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Asian Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat among others are protesting at Jantar Mantar here for the last 23 days, demanding the arrest of Brij Bhushan for allegedly sexually harassing women grapplers, including a minor. "We will make this protest global. We will approach Olympians and Olympic medallists in other countries. We will write to them asking them for their support," said 2018 Jakarta Asian Games gold medallist Vinesh. She alleged that some elements tried to tarnish their protest on Sunday night and also said that the wrestlers were being stalked at the protest site. "Some people tried to .

WFI should hand over all documents to ad-hoc panel, says IOA

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has asked the secretary general of WFI to hand over the official documents including financial instruments to its ad-hoc panel, making it clear the outgoing office bearers shall have no role in the running of the federation. The WFI said it has no issues in obeying the IOA order since they were already co-operating with the authorities. An IOA official, though, has made it clear that the move should not be seen as dissolution of the Federation. "Once the elections will be held, the administrative powers will go back to the WFI. The newly elected officials will run the show. It's just a temporary move that ad-hoc is managing the affairs of the Federation," the official told PTI. The IOA had formed an ad-hoc committee to manage the day-to-day affairs of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and also conduct due polls of the NSF. The ad-hoc committee was formed by the IOA at the behest of the Sports Ministry after several top wrestlers returned

SIT constituted to probe sexual harassment allegation against WFI chief

The Delhi Police on Friday informed a special court here that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to probe the allegations of sexual harassment levelled by women wrestlers against WFI president Brij Bhushan Singh. The submission was made before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal in response to the court's earlier order directing the police to file a stratus report. Considering the seriousness of the case we have formed a SIT. The SIT will be investigating the case, public prosecutor Atul Srivastava told the court, stating that a status report has been filed in the matter. He requested that the report must not be shared with anyone considering the nature of the case. The report has been filed by the Delhi Police in a sealed cover. After the submission, the court posted the matter for further hearing on May 27. The judge had issues notice to the Delhi Police on a plea moved by the wrestlers seeking monitoring of the investigation and ..

Delhi Police records statement of WFI chief in sexual harassment case

Report has revealed that the WFI chief Singh has denied all the allegations levelled against him

Sexual harassment case: Delhi Police to record victims' statement on Friday

Farmers have also extended their support to wrestlers and had arrived from Haryana and Punjab on Monday to join the wrestlers protest

NHRC notice to sports ministry over panel's absence to address harassment

The NHRC issued a notice to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on Thursday over reports that the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and four other bodies do not have an internal complaints committee to address sexual harassment charges, a senior official said. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has also sent notices to the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the WFI and several other national sports federations over reports that they either do not even have an ICC or a properly functional ICC as required by law, according to a statement issued by the rights panel. The notices come at a time when several wrestlers are protesting at Jantar Mantar here demanding the sacking and arrest of WFI president and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over charges of sexual harassment of women grapplers. The NHRC has taken "suo motu cognisance of a media report that there is no Internal Complaints Committee (ICC)

Statement of minor who accused WFI of sexual harassment recorded before DM

The statement of a minor who has accused Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexually harassing her has been recorded before the magistrate, police said on Thursday. On Wednesday, a court here sought a status report from Delhi Police over the sexual harassment case against Singh. The judge issued notice to police on a plea moved by the protesting wrestlers seeking monitoring of the investigation and recording of the statement of the alleged victims before the court. The court directed the police to file the report by May 12 when it will further hear the matter. "The statement of the minor female wrestler has been recorded before the magistrate under CrPC section 164. Soon, statements of the remaining six female wrestlers will also be recorded before the magistrate," a senior police officer said. Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure deals with recording of confession and statement before a magistrate. Police have under CrPC section 161 ..

Don't know what's happening: Ganguly's remark on wrestlers' protest

While many have come forward and voiced their concerns, Ganguly said, he would not like to talk on the matter without having complete knowledge

All demands of wrestlers met, let police finish its probe: Anurag Thakur

Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday said that all demands of the wrestlers sitting on dharna in Delhi have been met and that they should let an unbiased probe be completed by Delhi Police. "It is my request to all the sportspersons who are agitating there that whatever their demands were, they were met. Court has also given its directions and they should let an unbiased probe be completed," Thakur told reporters here. "Delhi police will do 'doodh ka doodh pani ka pani' and take strict action as per law," he added. Several wrestlers have been protesting at Jantar Mantar in the national capital since April 23 with a demand that the findings of a committee which was formed to probe sexual harassment charges against WFI chief Brijbhushan Sharan Singh be made public. Sharan, a BJP MP from Kaiserganj seat in UP and the president of Wrestling Federation of India, has been accused of sexually harassing at least seven female wrestlers, including a minor. Since the protests began,