The Delhi Police have charged former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh with assault, making sexually coloured remarks, and stalking as they filed a 1,082-page charge sheet in a local court against him and his aide Vinod Tomar.
Deputy police commissioner (New Delhi) Pranav Tayal said Singh has been charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC)’s Sections 354 (assault or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty), 354A (making sexually coloured remarks) and 354D (stalking). Tomar has been indicted under IPC’s sections 109 (abetment), 354, 354A, and 506 (criminal intimidation). Tayal said it is not mandatory to arrest the two.
A second police officer said investigators have found evidence against the accused but since they face a maximum punishment of five years, it is not mandatory to arrest them.
The officer added that since the details sought from overseas wrestling federations have yet not been received, they may file a supplementary chargesheet against the accused. “It is a chargesheet; not a final report. So, whatever the investigators get after filing the primary chargesheet, will certainly be included in the supplementary chargesheet/s. Also, the forensic reports of digital evidence such as photos, videos, and audio have not been obtained yet from the laboratories…we may include their findings in the supplementary chargesheet,” said the second officer, requesting anonymity.
The officer said the two accused joined the investigation and cooperated and no recovery or discovery of facts was to be made from them or at their instance. “Their addresses are verified and there is no likelihood of them escaping,” he quoted the chargesheet as saying.
The Delhi Police separately told another local court on Thursday that no corroborative evidence was found against Singh in the second case filed against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The police’s 552-page cancellation report filed in the court cites statements from a minor wrestler, her father, the complainant, Singh, and other witnesses. A cancellation report is filed in cases when no corroborative evidence is found. The court will hear the matter next on July 4.
The minor was among the women athletes who levelled sexual harassment charges against Singh, who headed WFI for 12 years. Her father, as the complainant in the POCSO Act case, withdrew the allegations and recorded a fresh statement before a magistrate.
Tayal said they filed the report requesting the cancellation of the case based upon statements of the minor and her father after the completion of the investigation.
Police on Sunday said that four of the six women athletes provided audio and visual evidence to corroborate their allegations.
Wrestlers seeking action against Singh suspended their protest until June 15 after Union minister Anurag Thakur on June 7 met Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and assured them that the charge sheet in the case would be filed by June 15.
In cases such as those related to sexual harassment, the burden of proof lies on investigating agencies. Police did not file a first information report (FIR) for weeks until the Supreme Court directed them to do so.
On Friday last, a team of Delhi Police visited the WFI office with one of the complainants for about 30 minutes to recreate the sequence of events even as Singh was in his house on the same premises. Punia said the complainant went through “mental trauma” after the visit.
The protesting wrestlers camped at Jantar Mantar for 38 days demanding Singh’s immediate arrest until the Delhi Police uprooted their tents there on May 28. They were manhandled, stopped, and detained as they sought to march to the new Parliament building during its inauguration that day.
The wrestlers later held off on immersing their medals in the Ganga as part of their protest against Singh and broke down in a huddle played out on live television.
A Special Investigation Team probing the matter questioned over 180 people and visited Singh’s residence in Gonda to record statements of his relatives, colleagues, and associates.
