A day after India’s ace wrestler Vinesh Phogat accused sports minister Anurag Thakur of trying to hush up allegations of sexual harassment, the minister said to let the inquiry be over before jumping the gun in the case against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. He said action will be taken only after a proper investigation into the charges.
Thakur held a press conference on Wednesday, where he said the case cannot be a media trial. “An FIR has been registered, police investigation will happen. How can anything be done before an investigation? Nothing can be decided by media trial,” he said.
The minister said action cannot be taken without investigation in any case of molestation or sexual abuse. “Delhi Police has registered an FIR, investigation will begin and whoever will be found guilty, action will be taken according to law,” he said.
On Tuesday, Vinesh alleged that complaints related to sexual harassment have been hushed up in the past and Thakur did the same by forming an oversight panel instead of taking concrete action. The biggest face of the protest, she claimed that sexual harassment cases were reported twice in the past during the national camp but the Wresting Federation of India (WFI) succeeded in sweeping the matter under the carpet.
Vinesh Phogat and other top wrestlers have been protesting at Jantar Mantar, demanding Brij Bhushan Singh’s arrest. She said it was tough to stand against a powerful person who had been misusing his position for long. The World Championships medallist said the wrestlers had shared their ordeal in a meeting with the sports minister but he did not do anything except for constituting an oversight panel.
After getting assurances from the government that the matter will be probed, the wrestlers had called off their protest in January. A five-member panel was formed to look into the sexual harassment charges against Brij Bhushan.
“During the 2012 national camp, a sexual harassment complaint was lodged at a police station. Within 24 hours that case was hushed up. In 2014 a physio, who was also trainer of Geeta Phogat, raised a similar matter and he was removed from the camp within 24 hours. From that day, his wife could not participate in any competition. Before we started our protest, three months back, we had explained everything to a government official how sexual harassment was taking place and how women wrestlers were being tortured mentally. The athletes were being pushed to a stage where they could have done anything with their lives,” Vinesh was quoted as saying in a report published by news agency PTI.
She said the wrestlers waited for three to four months even after women wrestlers had shared individual incidents related to sexual harassment with Thakur. “Sports minister tried to hush up matter yet again by forming a committee. We have tried to raise this issue at every level but the matter was always suppressed,” Vinesh was quoted as saying, adding that now people can understand why they were silent for 12 years.
She also alleged that the Delhi Police was not doing its job properly. “The Delhi Police has not yet recorded any statement. They are helping in breaking the victims, using power and position. Delhi Police is trying to delay the matter. They are giving information to Brij Bhushan. Maybe we will get justice only from the Supreme Court. The kind of language he (WFI chief) is using on national television gives an indication how he can behave with women in a closed room,” she added.
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