Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh sought sexual favours, groped wrestlers: FIRs

Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh allegedly offered to buy a wrestler “supplements” if she gave into his sexual advances, called another to his bed and hugged her besides assaulting and inappropriately touching other athletes, according to the First Information Reports (FIRs) filed against him.

The two FIRs, including one under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, were filed on the basis of complaints of the six wrestlers and the father a minor one on April 28. They cite threats the athletes faced.

According to the FIR filed under the POCSO Act, Singh allegedly held the minor wrestler tightly during the 2022 Ranchi National Games while pretending to getting a picture clicked. He then allegedly touched her inappropriately.

“He told my daughter that she should support him and he would support her. However, my daughter somehow managed to wriggle out of the strong grip of the accused and bluntly told him: ‘Sir, I have reached this level with my hard work and hope to achieve more with my hard work’,” the FIR says, quoting the minor’s father.

HT has seen copies of the FIRs.

Another athlete alleged Singh forcibly hugged her after she won a gold medal. She added that Singh also started stalking her over the phone including that of her mother besides offering her to buy her “supplements”.

A third complainant alleged Singh assaulted her sexually during a championship at Sofia in Bulgaria last year. “While I was training, the accused called me separately...I refused since the accused was touching other girls also inappropriately. ...I was again called by the accused who then pulled my T-shirt and slid his hand down my stomach and put it on my navel on the pretext of checking my breath.”

The athlete said during her stay at a hotel in Bulgaria’s Sofia, she noticed none of the women wrestlers ever went out independently. “...all the female wrestlers always went together for any activity...”

She said Singh somehow managed to get a hotel room booked on the same floor as that of the players. The athlete added Singh would walk in the lobby of the floor wearing a lungi.

A fourth complainant said Singh allegedly placed his hands on her buttock during the customary photo shoot at a championship in Lucknow.

The details of the FIRs came to light amid growing support for the wrestlers. On Thursday, representatives of around 50 khaps or clan-based outfits met in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar to back the wrestlers. They said they will meet President Droupadi Murmu to press for action against Singh even as the Union government reiterated it was handling the matter sensitively.

On Wednesday, Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia, Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, and double World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat held off on immersing their medals in the Ganga as part of their protest against Singh.

The wrestlers broke down in a huddle played out on live television on the banks of the Ganga in Haridwar. They were manhandled, stopped and detained as they sought to march to the new Parliament building during its inauguration on Sunday.

The wrestlers camped at New Delhi’s protest site Jantar Mantar for 38 days demanding action until the Delhi Police uprooted their tents there on Sunday.

Singh, who headed the now-suspended Wrestling Federation of India for 12 years, on Wednesday said that he would hang himself if a single allegation was proven against him even as the wrestlers demanded his immediate arrest.

Delhi Police Public Relations Officer Suman Nalwa refused to comment saying the investigation is still on. “...so we cannot comment on the time frame for investigation in this case. This is an open-ended case. We will not make any remark on the evidence also until the probe is over.”