Wrestlers’ Protest: Delhi Commission for Women Chief Says Brij Bhusan ‘Belongs In Jail’, Not Parliament

NEW DELHI: Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal on Wednesday came down heavily on Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, saying that he “belongs in jail and not in the Parliament.”

The comments from Maliwal a day after it came to light that Delhi police’s chargesheet against Singh has included charges of “sexual harassment” and “criminal intimidation”. The police have concluded in the chargesheet that Singh is “liable to be prosecuted and punished for offences of stalking and molestation".

With such outright charges leveled in the chargesheet, Maliwal posed questions at the Delhi Police and the Centre for the lack of action against Singh. Maliwal also said that prominent wrestlers of the country had organized a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for over a month and had repeatedly been demanding that Singh be arrested on the sexual harassment charges leveled by them.

Maliwal said in a video message on Twitter, “The whole country knows that Brij Bhushan Singh is a big politician who has several criminal cases lodged against him. Amid this, India's top wrestlers sat on the streets for a month demanding action against him. They kept screaming, yelling...demanding Delhi Police to arrest Singh. But they did not do anything. Instead, they victim-shamed the wrestlers.”

She went on to say now that the Delhi police have submitted concrete evidence against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in court, she wanted to ask Delhi Police why they didn't arrest Singh, even though it was known by them that he had sexually harassed wrestlers.

The DCW chief demanded that the Central government should also answer why no action had been taken by them against the accused Singh.

The Delhi Police had on Tuesday filed a chargesheet based on the “investigation so far” against WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is facing charges of sexual harassment. According to those who had perused the chargesheet dated June 13, it read that Singh is “liable to be prosecuted and punished for offences of stalking and molestation".

According to a report, the chargesheet dated June 13 also pointed out that Singh’s harassment was “repeated and continuing” in one of six cases lodged against him. The Delhi Police has invoked against Singh several of IPC sections including 506 (criminal intimidation), 354 (outraging modesty of a woman), 354 A (sexual harassment), and 354 D (stalking).

Singh, who is the outgoing wrestling body chief and also a BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh, is charged under sections 354, 354A and 354D in two of the six cases, while charges related to sections 354 and 354A have been filed against him in the remaining four cases. In the event of a conviction, these charges could mean that he was potentially looking at a prison sentence of up to five years.

The chargesheet is based on a probe during which 108 witnesses were examined. Among these, 15 people like wrestlers, coaches and referees have supported the allegations made against the BJP MP.

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