‘Wrestlers' sexual abuse charges serious… Report in 8-10 days': Yogeshwar Dutt
Yogeshwar Dutt said if the allegations are false, it should be investigated what was the motive behind them.
India's top wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, a part of the seven-member Indian Olympic Association (IOA) committee to probe fellow wrestlers' sexual harassment allegations against federation president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, said there cannot be any compromise in the case and the accused must be punished if found guilty.
He also said if the allegations are false, it should be investigated what was the motive behind them.
“It's very serious, gravest is sexual harassment allegations. There can be no compromise in sexual harassment allegations. If it happened, it should be probed and accused be punished,” news agency ANI quoted the Olympics medallist as saying.
“Also, if the allegations are false, it should be probed why were they levelled and what was the motive behind this,” Dutt added.
The IOA had formed a seven-member committee, headed by MC Mary Kom, to probe the charges against Singh.
“The committee will prepare a report within 8-10 days after listening to both sides. We will send the report to both the sports ministry and home ministry as well as to the prime minister,” Dutt added.
After a late-night meeting, the tussle between the agitating grapplers and the WFI ended for the time being after the athletes called off their protest following assurances from the government, the first step of which was temporary sidelining under-fire Singh.
The wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Ravi Dahiya, decided to end their three-day long sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi after a breakthrough was achieved during a marathon second round of talks with Union sports minister Anurag Thakur late on Friday night.
The government decided to form an oversight committee which will investigate the allegations of sexual harassment of women wrestlers by the WFI president. The committee, members of which are yet to be named, will also oversee the day-to-day affairs of the federation.
Earlier on Friday, the wrestlers reached out to the IOA demanding a probe.
In their letter, addressed to IOA president PT Usha, the wrestlers alleged financial misappropriation (of funds) on the part of WFI and claimed that the coaches and sports science staff at the national camp are "absolutely incompetent".
