Wrestlers' protest
Delhi Police registers 2 cases against wrestling body chief after Supreme Court intervention
New Delhi: The Delhi Police Friday filed two cases against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh acting on the sexual harassment allegations made by the country's top wrestlers.
The Delhi Police, which functions under Amit Shah's Home Ministry, filed the two first information reports (FIRs) hours after the Supreme Court ordered them to do so, amid the wrestlers' protests at Delhi's Jantar Mantar.
One of the FIRs has been filed over a complaint of sexual harassment by a minor under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which gives no scope for bail.
Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Ravi Dahiya, and Deepak Punia have been protesting against Singh and demanding the government take action on their complaint.
Singh, who is also a BJP MP, welcomed the Supreme Court's order to file the police case into allegations of sexual harassment against him.
However, he told reporters that the wrestlers should have waited for the report of a committee that was tasked to look into the matter before they decided to sit on a protest in Delhi's Jantar Mantar.
"I am happy with the judiciary's decision. The Delhi Police will investigate the allegations and I am ready to cooperate with them in every possible way. No one is bigger than the judiciary in this country. The order has come to file an FIR (first information report). The government had also said it had no objection to filing an FIR. I am not larger than the Supreme Court. I welcome the order," Singh told reporters.
Sports Minister Anurag Thakur had earlier formed the committee to look into the allegations against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and its chief.
The committee submitted its report on April 5. But the ministry has not yet made public the findings of the six-member committee.
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