One of India’s most prominent female wrestlers has abandoned two of her top awards on an Indian street because Indian authorities have not addressed sexual harassment issues female wrestlers say they face within their federation.
Vinesh Phogat attempted to personally hand over the awards to Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently, but police stopped her.
She was abandoning the prizes to protest the election of Sanjay Singh to the presidency of the Wrestling Federation of India.
Phogat, along with Olympic gold medalists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, have all protested Singh’s selection.
Singh is a close associate of former WFI President Brij Bhushan, whom all three female wrestlers have accused of sexual harassment.
Following Singh’s election, Malik announced her retirement from wrestling, prompting the Sports Ministry to request that India’s Olympic Association take over the management of the WFI to restore order to the agency.
