Security cover withdrawn for wrestlers set to testify against Brij Bhushan, allege Vinesh and Sakshi

The security cover for the female wrestlers who were set to testify in the sexual harassment case against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has been withdrawn by Delhi Police, ace wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik alleged on Thursday.

“Delhi Police has withdrawn the security of the women wrestlers who are going to testify against Brij Bhushan in the court," both Vinesh and Sakshi wrote on microblogging platform X, tagging the official accounts of Delhi Police as well as the Delhi Commission for Women and the National Commission for Women.

जिन महिला पहलवानों की बृजभूषण के ख़िलाफ़ कोर्ट में गवाहियाँ होने वाली हैं, दिल्ली पुलिस ने उनकी सुरक्षा हटा ली है @DelhiPolice @DCWDelhi @NCWIndia

— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) August 22, 2024

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Vinesh, along with Olympic medallists Sakshi and Bajrang Punia were the faces of the wrestlers’ protest against the former WFI president and six-time Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Kaiserganj, Uttar Pradesh, who had been accused of sexually harassing several female wrestlers as well as financial mismanagement among a host of other charges.

The protest briefly took place in January last year gained traction only after the wrestlers camped in New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar in April, with the protest raging throughout the harsh summer. The Brij Bhushan-led WFI Executive Committee was dissolved shortly after the protest resumed in April, with the organisation then taken over by an ad-hoc panel formed by the Indian Olympic Association.

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While the Delhi Police would later file an FIR against Brij Bhushan. More recently in May, Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court ordered the framing of charges against the accused to begin.

Despite not being in a position of authority anymore, Brij Bhushan reportedly continues to influence to workings of the WFI through the current president Sanjay Singh, who is said to be loyal to the BJP strongman.

Sakshi, who had won bronze in the 2016 Rio Olympics, had retired following Sanjay’s victory in the WFI Election while Bajrang had failed to make the cut for the Paris Olympics. Vinesh, however, not only qualified for the Paris Games, she became the first Indian female wrestler to qualify for the final after winning all three of her bouts earlier this month.

The 29-year-old, however, would suffer a heartbreak the very next day by failing to clear her second weigh-in, in which she was found to be overweight by a mere 100 grams, resulting in her getting disqualified from the women’s 50kg event.