Close aides of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh allegedly tried to intimidate the wrestlers who complained against him on multiple occasions while they were deposing before the government-appointed Oversight Committee, as per a written complaint.Brij Bhushan has been charged by the Delhi Police on June 15 for alleged sexual harassment, assault and stalking of six women wrestlers.Sexual harassment allegations by wrestlers on MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh | According to the chargesheet, one complainant had mentioned six places where she felt she was molested by Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Chargesheet states that based on the investigation so far, Brij…— ANI (@ANI) July 11, 2023The complaint, which was sent via email by one of the female complainants who led the protests against the WFI President, is a part of the 1600-page chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police.Pressurised wrestlers to retract statement breached privacy: ComplaintAccording to the complaint, aides of Brij Bhushan approached the complainants and tried to pressurise them to retract their statements before the Oversight Committee.The complainant also claimed that the WFI Presidents men were present when their statements were being recorded by the Committee.“I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the privacy breach that took place at JLN stadium on February 9, 2023 while statements were being recorded. As you are aware, we were called to the venue with the assurance of complete privacy and confidentiality. However, to our surprise, we found Brij Bhushans favourites Jai Prakash, Mahavir Bishnoi and Dilip roaming around the conference [room] the entire day while statements were being recorded… [It] made the environment completely uncomfortable and unauthentic,” the complainant wrote in an email dated February 13.“We noticed [that] they approached the victim wrestlers and tried to create pressure thats completely unacceptable. Why were they roaming where statements were being recorded As per law, they should have never been there. It completely breached our privacy. Who will be responsible if there is any mishappening with any of us We noticed that there was another person present while the statements were being recorded, but he was never introduced to us formally, which goes against the laws as only six committee members are allowed to be present during such proceedings,” the complainant added.“All of these events have left us feeling violated and uncomfortable and we strongly believe that such breaches of privacy should not be tolerated. I request you to take immediate action to ensure that privacy and confidentiality of all future proceedings are maintained and that necessary steps are taken to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.”The Oversight Committee was headed by MC Mary Kom and also included wrestlers Yogeshwar Dutt and Babita Phogat, former badminton player Trupti Murgunde, and former Sports Authority of India (SAI) officials Radhica Sreeman and Cdr Rajesh Rajagopalan.The accusations raised in the email are in line with earlier statements from wrestler Bajrang Punia, who said that the father of a minor complainant – who later retracted her complaint – was caused by a lot of pressure which had led the entire family into depression.
