India’s Supreme Court has issued an order to Delhi Police to file charges as soon as possible against parliamentarian and Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of sexually harassing several Indian female wrestlers.
The court order Tuesday came two days after India's top wrestlers began a sit-in protest in the capital demanding Singh’s immediate arrest.
Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud noted that the allegations by the wrestlers are “serious” and need “consideration by this court.”
Singh has said the allegations against him are “baseless,” calling them a conspiracy to remove him from parliament.
On Wednesday, the Delhi Police told the Supreme Court said it would abide by Tuesday's order but said that a primary inquiry should be conducted in the case before formal charges are filed.
Protests began in January
Months after the issue first surfaced in social media, in January, some wrestlers, both male and female, organized a sit-in protest in Delhi and demanded action against Singh and several wrestling coaches for the alleged sexual harassment of seven Indian female wrestlers, including one minor.
The wrestlers called off that protest after three days, following assurance of action from Indian Sports Minister Anurag Thakur. The sports ministry took away Singh’s administrative powers in WFI. But Singh, a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and considered a party strongman, has remained the federation’s president.
The wrestlers resumed the sit-in protest in Delhi on April 23, because, they said, they were not satisfied with the “insufficient action” taken against the accused. They submitted a complaint against Singh and other coaches at Connaught Place police station in Delhi weeks ago, but the police have yet to pursue the matter, they said.
On Tuesday, the seven wrestlers, who have represented India at the international level, filed a petition to the Supreme Court, asking that police file charges of sexual harassment against Singh.
The wrestlers told local media that they would not end their sit-in until Singh is charged and arrested.
In the petition, the wrestlers accused the police of inaction and said that their role “clearly depicts a sad state of affairs and a clear violation of human rights.”
Before filing the petition to the court, lawyer Kapil Sibal, who represented the wrestlers, said in a tweet that the wrestlers failed to move the “conscience of those in power” because the charge of sexual harassment was against a powerful ruling party MP. He added that he would continue to support the protesting wrestlers.
On Tuesday, the court fixed April 28 as the next hearing in the case and said: "There are serious allegations made in the petition by wrestlers who have represented India, and sexual harassment meted out to them. The matter requires consideration by this court.”
Vinesh Phogat, one of the wrestlers in the sit-in protest and the first Indian woman to win gold at both the Commonwealth and Asian Games, said in a tweet Monday: “From the podium to footpath: we wait under the open sky at midnight, in the hope of justice.” The tweet also carried a photo of the protesting wrestlers and some of their sympathizers lying on a sidewalk in Delhi, at night.
Bajrang Punia, bronze medalist in men’s freestyle wrestling at the Tokyo Olympics, said that after the names of the wrestlers who complained against the WFI chief were leaked, the wrestlers and their families received threats and they are anxious.
“Still these female wrestlers have been continuing their protest and fight courageously. This is not a fight of only some wrestlers. All athletes should come forward and join us in this fight,” Punia, who has taken part in the ongoing sit-in strike, said to the reporters.
