New Delhi: The Delhi Police reportedly took one of the six complainants who have levelled charges of sexual harassment against benched Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to the body’s office in New Delhi Friday. The two-room office of the WFI — located at 21, Ashoka Road — is almost an annexe to Brij Bhushan’s official residence in the capital.
However, after reports of the female wrestler being allegedly taken to “Brij Bhushan’s home” went viral, the office of Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi, tweeted clarifying that the news was “wrong” and that Delhi Police had taken the female wrestler to the WFI office for “investigation”.
The entry points to the office and Brij Bhushan’s residence — two gates situated on the same road — are separate. A small room, where he interacts with the media, is the only thing that divides the WFI office from its chief’s home.
Sources close to the wrestlers told ThePrint that the complainant went with the police as part of its investigation and for “scene re-creation”.
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has been accused of sexual harassment by six adult women wrestlers and a minor, and has been booked under two separate FIRs. The minor denied harassment in a second statement that she recorded before a judge in Patiala House Court on 5 June, according to her father.
Three of the six adult complainants in the case have detailed incidents of sexual harassment at the wrestling federation’s office
In the FIR, one of the complainants had alleged that Brij Bhushan, while in his office, had told her that the federation would bear the expenses of an injury she had suffered in exchange for sexual favours.
Another complainant had said that he had tried to forcefully make physical contact with her, which left her “shell shocked”. She had run out of the office.
A third complainant said the WFI chief had rubbed her palms, knees and thighs on a couch in his office — an incident that had left her “shivering”.
The government has been able to persuade the wrestlers to call off their protest till 15 June, a date by which it has been assured that the Delhi Police will file a chargesheet. The police have reportedly interviewed over 200 witnesses for the case, and had even visited Lucknow and Brij Bhushan’s residence and questioned his associates.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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