NEW DELHI: Close aides of former Wrestling Federation of India’s president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who’s accused of sexually harassing six ladies wrestlers, allegedly attempted to intimidate feminine complainants on a couple of events once they deposed ahead of the participants of the government-appointed oversight committee, consistent with a written grievance.
An electronic mail, despatched to the committee via one of the most complainants who used to be spearheading the protest towards Singh, paperwork a part of the Delhi police chargesheet operating into 1,600 pages. It alleges that Singh’s males approached the ‘victimised’ wrestlers and attempted to create force on them to retract their statements.
‘Privacy breach when statements had been recorded’
In one of the most emails written on February 13, 2023 to the committee, the complainant wrote: “I am writing to express my deep regard concerning the privacy breach that took place at JLN stadium on February 9, 2023 while statements were being recorded. you are aware, we were called to the venue with the assurance of complete privacy and confidentiality. However, to our surprise, we found Brij Bhushan’s favorites Jai Prakash, Mahavir Bishnoi and Dilip roaming around the conference (room) the entire day while statements were being recorded… (it) made the environment completely uncomfortable and unauthentic.”
“We noticed they approached the victim wrestlers and tried to create pressure that’s completely unacceptable. Why were they roaming where statements were being recorded? As per law, they should have never been there. It completely breached our privacy. Who will be responsible if there is any mishappening with any of us (sic)? We noticed that there was another person present while the statements were being recorded, but he was never introduced to us formally, which goes against the laws as only six committee members are allowed to be present during such proceedings,” the grievance stated.
“All of these events have left us feeling violated and uncomfortable and we strongly believe that such breaches of privacy should not be tolerated. I request you to take immediate action to ensure that privacy and confidentiality of all future proceedings are maintained and that necessary steps are taken to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future,” the mail learn.
The committee used to be constructed from Mary Komadditionally chairperson of the Indian Olympic Association’s (IOAathletes fee, London Olympics bronze-winning wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, three-time CWG medalist Babita Phogatformer badminton participant Trupti Murgunde and ex-Sports Authority of India (SAI) officers Radhica Sreemanand Cdr Rajesh Rajagopalan.
As in line with the enclosures which shape a part of the chargesheet, it’s been realized that Babita did not concur with the findings of the committee and signed the general file in protest.
“The committee did not satisfy its legal responsibility and the investigation wasn’t performed in an excellent and clear approach. Apart from calling other people related to the case, no efforts had been made to ask unbiased witnesses to depose ahead of the committee to unearth the reality . The committee by no means requested for bodily proof to corroborate the claims made via the feminine wrestlers. The investigation used to be not anything however simply a formality. The findings have been inconclusive within the absence of truthful and clear investigation. Instead, the committee should have strived to take vital and justified motion towards the accused (Brij Bhushan and previous WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar),” Babita said.
Among different issues, the committee agreed with the depositions made via different witnesses – Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Ravi Dahiya, reigning Asian Games and CWG champion Bajrang Punia and Deepak Punia – concurring that the avid gamers’ business contracts had been breached via the WFI.