Page 8 - Wfi

UWW condemns wrestlers' detention, will ban WFI if polls not held in time

The United World Wrestling (UWW) on Tuesday condemned the detention of India's top wrestlers during their protest in Jantar Mantar and threatened to suspend the national federation WFI if it fails to hold its election within the stipulated time. The world body said it has been keeping an eye on the protest by the wrestlers against the outgoing Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for allegedly sexually harassing several women. "For several months, United World Wrestling has followed with great concern the situation in India where wrestlers are protesting over allegations of abuse and harassment by the President of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI)," UWW said in a statement. "It has taken due note that the WFI President has been put aside at an early stage and is currently not in charge." Unprecedented scenes of police dragging Olympic and world championships medallists, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sangeeta Phogat, were

Country stupefied, PM should shed arrogance: Kejriwal on wrestlers protest

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said the whole country was "stupefied" by the wrestlers' plan to immerse their medals in the Ganga and the "prime minister should shed arrogance". The wrestlers had announced they would immerse their medals in the river in Haridwar as a mark of protest to demand action against BJP MP and Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who they alleged sexually harassed women grapplers. But the wrestlers did not carry out the threat after farmer leaders sought five days' time from them to resolve the issue. Tweeting a video of the wrestlers assembled at the banks of the Ganga in Haridwar crying, Kejriwal tweeted, "The whole country is stupefied. There are tears in the eyes of the whole country. Now the prime minister should shed arrogance." Police had last month registered two FIRs against Singh but he has not been arrested so far. The wrestlers, who had been protesting at Jantar Mantar since April 23 seeking the arrest

Wrestlers Protest: Vinesh, Sakshi reach Haridwar to immerse medals in Ganga

The country's top wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, along with hundreds of their supporters, reached Har ki Pauri to immerse their medals in the Ganga river even as police beefed up security arrangements near the area here on Tuesday. A huge crowd gathered in Har ki Pauri as the protesting wrestlers got ready to immerse their world and Olympic medals in the holy waters as a mark of protest against outgoing Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over allegations of sexual harassment. Sakshi, Vinesh and her cousin Sangeeta were seen sobbing as their husbands tried to console them even as scores of their supporters formed a cordon around them. The wrestlers stood for about 20 minutes in silence after reaching Har ki Pauri. They then sat on the banks of the river holding their citations and looking emotionally distressed. The wrestlers, who were detained by Delhi Police and removed from their Jantar Mantar protest site on May 28,

Protesting wrestlers to immerse medals in Ganga: A timeline of events

Olympic medal winners Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and World Championships medal winner Vinesh Phigat have decided to immerse their medals in the Ganga in Haridwar

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 .

Urge wrestlers not to protest near new Parliament: Brij Bhushan Singh

WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said that he is ready to face a narco test and urged the protesting wrestlers not to hold any kind of agitation near the new Parliament building

Vinesh Phogat playing role of Manthara: WFI chief Brij Bhushan Singh

BJP MP and Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of sexual harassment by seven women wrestlers, on Tuesday sought to equate grappler Vinesh Phogat with Manthara, a character in the Hindu epic Ramayana. The Ramayana says Manthara, who was queen Kaikeyi's maid, convinced her the throne of Ayodhya belonged to her son Bharat and that her step son and crown-prince Ram should be exiled from the kingdom. "The role that Manthara-Kaikeyi played in the Treta yug, similarly Vinesh Phogat is playing the role of Manthara for me," Singh told a public meeting here. He added that earlier thousands of wrestlers were staging protests against him, but now only three husband-wife pairs are left. There is no seventh, he said. "The day the results are out, I will thank Manthara also." The Delhi Police has registered two FIRs against Singh after he was accused of sexual harassment by women wrestlers, and is probing the case. "The wrestlers who were staging .

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

Olympic medallist Punia accepts Bhushan's challenge to undergo Narco test

Olympic bronze medallist Bajrang Punia on Monday accepted Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's challenge of undergoing narco-analysis test to ascertain the truthfulness of wrestlers' sexual harassment allegations against the WFI president. The WFI chief in a Facebook post on Sunday said that he is ready to appear for a narco-analysis or polygraph test to prove his innocence. "I am ready to undergo narco test, polygraph test or lie detector test, but my condition is that Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia should also undergo these tests with me. If both the wrestlers agree to undergo it, call a press conference and make announcement. I promise them that I am ready for the test," he posted in Hindi. Responding to this, Bajrang said, "We are ready to face Narco Test but we would also want him (Brij Bhushan) to also face the Test under Supreme Court's supervision and with live streaming on national television." "We would like to see what questions are being asked. He has asked for Narco Test of ..

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,"

Wrestlers march to Bangla Sahib Gurudwara amid protest against WFI chief

Protesting wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and others marched from Jantar Mantar to Bangla Sahib Gurudwara on their 25th day of protest against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh

Wrestlers' row: Khap delegation submits memorandum to Prez, seeks justice

Solanki further said that in the coming days, all the representatives of Palam 360 will also submit memorandums to the district magistrates

Wrestlers mull taking protest to Ram Lila ground to make national movement

The protesting wrestlers, who have been demanding the arrest of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, on Tuesday indicated that they may take their agitation to Ram Lila ground to make it a "national movement". India's top wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and Asian Games gold winner Vinesh Phogat, have been protesting at Jantar Mantar here for the last 24 days, demanding the arrest of Brij Bhushan for allegedly sexually harassing seven women grapplers, including a minor. "We will discuss it (taking the protest to the Ram Lila ground) among ourselves and will take a decision about it soon," said Sakshi, reacting to Bhim Army president Chandrashekhar Azad's suggestion that the agitation should be made a "national movement" by taking it to Ram Lila maidan, a much bigger venue than the current one at Jantar Mantar. Azad, who had joined the protesting wrestlers at the Jantar Mantar on Monday evening but was asked

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

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 ..