Wrestlers' Protest: DCW Chief Demands Action Against Police Officers Who Detained Wrestlers

NEW DELHI: Swati Maliwal, the chairwoman of the Delhi Commission for Women, wrote to the commissioner of police to demand the arrest of BJP MP and head of the Wrestling Federation of India Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh as well as disciplinary action against the individuals responsible for detaining the wrestlers who were staging a demonstration on Sunday at Jantar Mantar. She also urged the Delhi Police to grant the prompt release of the female wrestlers and their families.

After a clash with security personnel who attempted to prevent them from preventing them from walking to the new Parliament building, as it was being inaugurated, protesting wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia were detained on Sunday. Soon after, the Delhi Police declared their over-month-long sit-in at Jantar Mantar to be illegal and removed them from the area. They were not permitted to return.

Maliwal wrote a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora in which she expressed her anguish at learning that female wrestlers and their families were being held today after being violently treated by Delhi Police while peacefully protesting at Jantar Mantar.

She added that, more than a month earlier, numerous female wrestlers—among them a minor—had leveled severe accusations of sexual harassment against Mr. Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a member of parliament, while he was serving as president of the Wrestling Federation of India.

She claimed that following the Supreme Court's involvement, the accused, who already has about 40 other active criminal cases against him, had two FIRs filed against him.“However, despite a minor girl alleging sexual harassment by the accused parliamentarian, Delhi Police has failed to arrest him till date. This has forced the female wrestlers to stage a protest at Jantar Mantar which has been ongoing for the past one month,” she wrote.

The head of DCW also questioned why Brij Bhushan Singh hadn't been taken into custody by the Delhi Police.“In Delhi, every day around 6 cases of sexual assault are reported and in each case, Delhi Police attempts to arrest the accused person. Then why has Brij Bhushan Singh not been arrested till date? If this is not blatant injustice, what is?” Maliwal asked.

“This apparent partisan attitude of Delhi Police which is being seen as siding with the accused parliamentarian has made a mockery of justice and forced the women wrestlers to sit and sleep on the streets of Delhi,” she added.

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