Protesting Wrestlers Seek Copy of Charge Sheet Filed Against Brij Bhushan Singh

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 27th June. Female wrestlers who have accused outgoing WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment filed a court petition in Delhi on Monday requesting a copy of the charge sheet filed against him.

Brij Bhushan Singh, a BJP MP, was charged on June 15 under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to insult her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354-D (stalking), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Harjeet Singh Jaspal, who is set to hear the charge sheet tomorrow, has asked the complainants’ counsel to file for a certified copy at the court’s copying agency.

The charge sheet also named Vinod Tomar, the suspended assistant secretary of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), for offences under sections 109 (abetment of any offence, if the act abetted is committed in consequence, and where no express provision is made for its punishment), 354, 354-A and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.

Besides the present case, another FIR was registered against Brij Bhushan Singh under the POCSO Act on the basis of allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by a minor wrestler. She was among the seven female grapplers who had accused Singh of sexual harassment.

Both the FIRs narrate several alleged instances of sexual harassment like inappropriate touching, groping, stalking and intimidation by Singh at different times and places over a decade.

In the minor’s case, the Delhi Police had on June 15 filed a final report seeking cancellation of the FIR. A cancellation report is filed in cases where police fail to find corroborative evidence after due investigation.

In a startling revelation, the father of the minor wrestler had told PTI that he and his daughter had filed a “false” police complaint of sexual harassment against Brij Bhushan Singh because they wanted to get back at him for perceived injustice against the girl.

Brij Bhushan Singh has been questioned by the police twice so far, and on both occasions, he denied all the allegations against him and claimed he was being “framed”. (with agency inputs)