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Ace wrestler Vinesh Phogat on 7 August missed the chance to win a historic gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She was disqualified after the mandatory morning weigh-in ahead of the bout showed her being overweight by 100 grams.
But only a year ago, Phogat, along with her fellow wrestlers, was fighting a tougher battle on the streets of Delhi.
They accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the former chief of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), of sexual harassment of female wrestlers during his tenure. Allegations of groping, touching their breasts and navels without consent, stalking, intimidation, and demanding "sexual favours" in exchange for professional help, were levelled by the complainants in an FIR registered with the Delhi Police.
In response, the government, on 23 January 2023, appointed an Oversight Committee led by M.C. Mary Kom, a Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna Awardee, to investigate the allegations of sexual misconduct, harassment, intimidation, financial irregularities, and administrative lapses raised by prominent athletes, and to manage the WFI's day-to-day operations.
What Has This Committee Achieved So Far?
Initially, the committee was asked to submit its report within four weeks, but the Ministry extended the deadline by two weeks to the third week of February. As per media reports, the Committee finally submitted the report on 5 April.
On 28 April, this reporter filed an RTI request for a copy of the report.
Tarun Pareek, Under Secretary of the Sports Ministry, responded on 26 May, stating that the report is not available.
Several media reports had previously stated that Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur met with the protesting wrestlers for four hours at his residence in New Delhi on 19 January 2023.
Later, on 27 April 2023, Thakur said, “We heard wrestlers for 12 hours and formed a committee, we also want an impartial probe, there were 14 meetings that were conducted. Everybody was given an opportunity to keep their point of view in front of an oversight committee.”
Wrestler Bajrang Punia responded to the former Sports Minister's statement, noting that Thakur spent only 12 minutes on the matter.
The Quint has reached out to Thakur for his response to this allegation. We will update the story when he responds.
The RTI filed by this reporter demanded the following information from the Ministry regarding these meetings: Date and time of each meeting , List of attendees, including ministry officials and Minutes of the meetings.
Under secretary and CPIO, Tarun Pareek replied that- No information available.
Status of Investigation in the Case
Months after the wrestlers' protests started, following an intervention by the Supreme Court of India in May 2023, the Delhi Police filed an FIR against BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. In June, a 1,000-page charge sheet was submitted to the Rouse Avenue court.
On May 10, 2024, the Delhi court found enough evidence to charge Singh and the now suspended assistant secretary of the WFI, Vinod Tomar, with sexual harassment and outraging the modesty of five women wrestlers.
The charges were formally framed on May 21, which both Singh and Tomar denied, choosing to go to trial.
The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Priyanka Rajpoot, noted that Singh, as WFI president, misused his position to control the victims and intimidated them with threats related to their careers.
(Suchak Patel is an independent journalist.)
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