On April 21, seven female wrestlers, including a minor, had filed separate complaints of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation against the WFI president at Delhi’s Connaught Place police station.
ONE witness who has, in her testimony to the Delhi Police, corroborated a wrestler’s allegations of sexual harassment against Wrestling Federation of India Chief Brij Bhushan Singh is 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medalist Anita.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Anita, 38, said that the complainant had called her from a tournament abroad to “share” the incident where Singh had allegedly called her to his room and “forcibly” hugged her.
Anita is among the over 125 potential witnesses, across four states, who are part of the police probe.
Anita, who has been a room-mate of the complainant at national-level camps, told The Indian Express: “After the championship in which she (wrestler) won gold, she didn’t go home but came straight to the camp in Patiala. She had called me from the city (overseas) where the competition was held and had told me over the phone ‘Didi bahut aisi baat ho gayi, mein aake bataungi apko kuchh. Bahut bura kaam hai yahaan to’ (Sister, an incident has happened and I will tell you once I return. Something very wrong is happening here).
On reaching Patiala, the wrestler narrated her ordeal to Anita. “She told me that after her competition she had gone to her room. Then the physio’s call came saying the President Saheb wants to meet you. She was scared because earlier, too, he used to trouble her over the phone…saying I will give you protein (supplements) and what not. She was uncomfortable already. What she told me was that when she reached (the room), she sat at a distance. But he said ‘arre arre, aisa kyu kar rahi ho, tum hamari bitiya ho, hamare paas aao’. (You are like my daughter, come closer). She went and sat next to him and suddenly he hugged her tightly. She was so scared after that incident. When she returned from there, she narrated what had happened and she cried,” Anita said.
BJP MP Singh persisted with “continuous acts of sexual harassment and “repeated indecent advances,” according to the FIR.
“Even earlier, before the championship where she won gold, he (Singh) had started contacting her over the phone saying ‘hum tumhare yeh madad karenge, hum se baat karo (I will help you, talk to me). He used to also call on my phone and would want to talk to her. At first ,Brij Bhushan used to call, after the incident at the championship, a physio started calling more often. The physio would tell her, ‘the President is asking about you… the president will do anything for you’. She was very uncomfortable and upset. Why will the President of an association call a girl so often?” Anita asked.
Anita added that the complainant tried to stay away from Singh as much as possible since “that was the only option” and “stopped picking up his calls”. Anita said had her friend raised her voice, “it would have ended her career”.
Giving her own example, the now retired wrestler said that even if one spoke out against WFI there would be consequences. “Girls were afraid to complain about the quality of food at the camps, how will they get the courage to speak up about sexual harassment?”
In her complaint, the victim has said that she was “traumatised” as she narrated the incident of Singh’s “forcible hug” — on the night of her gold medal victory — to her senior (Anita).
On April 21, seven female wrestlers, including a minor, had filed separate complaints of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation against the WFI president at Delhi’s Connaught Place police station. The wrestlers later approached the Supreme Court, stating that the police were not registering FIRs. Subsequently, the police registered two FIRs.
In the two FIRs filed by Delhi Police there have been at least two instances of the WFI chief demanding “sexual favours” in lieu of professional assistance; close to 15 incidents of sexual harassment that include 10 episodes of inappropriate touching, molestation that includes running hands over breasts, touching the navel; several instances of intimidation including stalking.
