The previous head of India’s wrestling federation has been cleared in a sexual harassment case filed by a minor feminine wrestler.
A court docket within the capital, Delhi, accepted a Delhi police report, recommending the cancellation of the case in opposition to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
A former MP from the governing Bharatiya Janata Occasion (BJP), Singh nonetheless faces fees of sexual harassment and stalking in a separate case by six grownup feminine wrestlers.
Singh has all the time denied these fees.
The circumstances in opposition to Singh made headlines in 2023 when he was charged with sexual harassment after months of protests by India’s prime wrestlers.
The protests made headlines globally, particularly after the police detained them as they tried to march to India’s new parliament constructing in Delhi.
Footage of the Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia and two-time world champion medallist Vinesh Phogat being dragged within the streets and carried off in police vans went viral, sparking criticism from prime athletes and opposition politicians.
The Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) additionally condemned the best way the wrestlers have been being handled and referred to as for an neutral inquiry into their complaints.
The federal government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was criticised for not appearing strongly or swiftly sufficient in opposition to Singh since he was a member of his occasion. The federal government had rejected the allegations.
The wrestlers agreed to pause their protests after assembly House Minister Amit Shah after which Sports activities Minister Anurag Thakur.
Thakur assured them that fees can be filed in opposition to Singh by 15 June 2023.
Seven feminine wrestlers, together with the minor, registered complaints with the police accusing Singh of molesting and groping them at coaching camps and tournaments.
Within the case of the minor, police had invoked the stringent Safety of Kids from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.
Singh, denied all of the allegations, accusing the wrestlers of being “politically motivated”.
Weeks later, the minor retracted her earlier statements and withdrew her allegations, reports mentioned. Wrestler Sakshi Malik instructed the BBC on the time that she believed “the participant was pressurised into withdrawing the fees”. Mr Singh refused to touch upon the allegation, saying “let legislation take its course”.
On Monday, authorized information website Bar and Bench reported that the police had given a report in court docket looking for cancellation of the case because the minor wrestler’s father mentioned he had made a false complaint.
The prosecution lawyer mentioned “no corroborative proof” had been discovered within the allegations after an in depth investigation within the case.
Bar and Bench mentioned the wrestler and her father had appeared earlier than the court docket and expressed satisfaction with the police investigation. In addition they didn’t oppose the cancellation report.
Within the aftermath of the row, Singh had stepped down because the wrestling federation chief. He was changed by his shut aide Sanjay Singh, who was later elected because the organisation’s chief, resulting in the accusation that Brij Bhushan Singh was nonetheless operating it by proxy. The 2 Singhs denied the accusation however the federal sports activities ministry suspended the federation in December 2023.
In 2024, the federation resumed its capabilities after United World Wrestling, the worldwide, organisation governing wrestling, lifted its ban on the Indian federation. Earlier this 12 months, The Hindu and Indian Specific newspapers reported that the Wrestling Federation of India was functioning out of Singh’s tackle in Delhi.
Singh was additionally denied a ticket by the BJP to contest the 2024 normal election. The occasion as a substitute fielded his son Karan Bhushan Singh from Kaiserganj – the seat within the northern Uttar Pradesh state which the senior Singh had held since 1999. The junior Singh received the election.
