Only 5 Confirmed Sex Assault Charges Against Wrestling Body Chief: Delhi Police Charge Sheet

Delhi Police examined 45 people while investigating the accusations of sexual harassment against Wrestling Federation of India's beleaguered chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh by a top woman grappler but only four corroborated the charges. 

According to the charge sheet filed by the city police, the complainant claimed she was sexually harassed thrice abroad and twice in India.

All four who corroborated the charges are relatives of the complainant and two were a part of the protest at Jantar Mantar.

The accused is liable to be prosecuted and punished for offences under Sections 354, 354-A (outraging the modesty of a woman) and 354-D (stalking) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the police said.

Singh has consistently rejected the allegations and claimed he was being "framed".

One complaint is about the accused insulting the woman wrestler, while the other is about a show-cause notice served by the WFI.

According to the charge sheet, the accused touched the woman "inappropriately and put his hand on her breast and slid it down her stomach on the pretext of checking her breathing" during the 2019 World Championship in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan.

During the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, the accused "hugged her very tightly and did not let her go for good 15-20 seconds and she had to protect her breast to prevent from groping." 

In another incident narrated by the complainant, Singh allegedly molested her during the 2016 World Championship in Mongolia. According to the charge sheet, the woman suffered abuse when she was in the dining area of the hotel and Singh touched her breast and stomach.

One incident is about alleged molestation inside the WFI office on October 16-17, 2017.

"The complainant was touched inappropriately on her palm, knee, thighs and shoulders without her consent," the charge sheet said. It was the WFI that provided technical evidence in the form of photos and videos to establish that the accused and the woman were at the same spot in most places when the alleged incidents took place, it said.

The police found the technical evidence "clearly supports" the allegations levelled by the complainant to the extent of the presence of the accused.

While four witnesses corroborated the alleged misconduct, the Delhi Police said, "In all, seven coaches, two physiotherapists, two masseuses, a psychologist, 11 wrestlers, three referees, who were present or accompanied the women wrestlers during all the various Wrestling Championships were examined. But all of them denied witnessing the alleged incidents."

The complainant also alleged that the accused insulted her during the Commonwealth Games trials at the Lucknow Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in 2022 by taking her name publicly and saying that he was not angry and would talk to her later.

According to the charge sheet, "The police visited the place, took a pen drive with 'video recording' but none of the witnesses supported the version of the woman." It was Sanjay Saraswat, the Executive Director of SAI Centre, Lucknow, who provided the video of the event.

The charge sheet also mentions the version of the complainant that she presented at the hearing conducted by the oversight committee constituted by the sports ministry to probe the allegations.

The Call Detail Records of the relevant people have been obtained but so far nothing concrete has been established after analysing them.