Indian wrestlers including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia have resumed their protest against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
The Delhi commission for women has written to the Delhi Commissioner of Police seeking for an FIR to be filed against Brij Bhushan Singh, president of the WFI on Sunday.
“The complainant has informed the Commission that several women wrestlers including a minor have alleged that the accused person has indulged in the crime of sexual harassment against them during his tenure at the Wrestling Federation of India,“ stated the letter .
In January, a similar protest was staged wherein the wrestlers accused Federation officials and coaches of financial impropriety, unsympathetic planning, mental harassment and accused the president and national camp coaches of sexual exploitation of female athletes going back a decade.
Vinesh, the first Indian wrestler woman wrestler to win a gold medal in both Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games, expressed her frustration on the Federation’s operation.
Bajrang, who won the gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, said that the protest “purely a protest of wrestlers” and politicians had nothing to do with it.
“Our protest is against the federation and the way it has been functioning without keeping the best interests of wrestlers in mind. This has nothing to do with politics of any sort,” he said.
“The job of the federation is to support the players, take care of their sporting needs. If there is a problem, it has to be solved. But what if the federation itself creates the problem? Now we have to fight, we will not back down,” he further tweeted months back.
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