WFI Sexual Harassment Case | Olympian Sakshi Malik: Still waiting to see investigation report

The protestors include decorated wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia. (Image source: Twitter/Phogat_Vinesh)

India’s top wrestlers, who are some of the most decorated sportspeople in the country, are proving, once again, that they are not to be pushed around.

On Tuesday, a sit-in protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar led by Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, and Asian Games and world championship medallist Vinesh Phogat, entered its third day. Unlike their previous sit-in in January, this protest is laser-focused on one agenda: to initiate a police investigation against suspended Wrestling Federation of India president and BJP MLA Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on charges of sexual harassment.

The ongoing protests began after Punia, Malik, Phogat and other wrestlers went to register an FIR against Sharan at the Connaught Place police station in New Delhi on April 21, a Friday, only to be turned away by the officer-in-charge, who asked them to come back on Monday. The Olympians were accompanied by the seven complainants, all wrestlers, who have accused Sharan of sexual harassment. One of the complainants said she was 16 at the time of the incident, so the wrestlers had asked that a case by filed under the stringent POCSO Act.

The matter has now escalated to a degree where the Supreme Court has become involved—the court issued a notice on Tuesday to Delhi Police after the wrestlers filed a petition seeking the registration of a police case against Sharan, and gave a date, 28 April, for the urgent hearing. The SC bench, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, also ordered that the names of the seven complainants be redacted from judicial records to protect their identity.

The Delhi Commission for Women has sent a notice to Delhi Police as well.

“Why did they not file an FIR? We are not going anywhere unless there is a proper investigation against Brij Bhushan Sharan,” Punia said. The wrestlers also urged that political parties and khap panchayats come out in their support. During the protests in January, the wrestlers had requested CPI (M)’s Brinda Karat not to join them since they wanted the issue to remain apolitical.

“We have learned our lessons. Now we won’t deny any support coming our way, be it political or otherwise,” Punia said. “Whenever we come home after winning medals, all politicians line up for pictures with us. Why is the Prime Minister silent today? When we get medals, you stand with us for pictures, now when we are sleeping on pavements, where are you?”

In January, in an explosive move, India’s top wrestlers had sprung a sit-in protest outside the WFI’s offices, raising a host of issues against the wrestling body and its president, Sharan. Those issues included mismanagement of the federation, harassment and intimidation of athletes, mismanagement of funds, as well as sexual harassment. At that time, the sports ministry, in response, had suspended the WFI and appointed an “oversight committee” to run the federation's day-to-day affairs and also investigate the charges against Sharan. Even though the committee was supposed to submit a report within a month, the submission was delayed to April 5. At the time of submission, a report quoted one member of the committee, who was not named, as having raised multiple objections to the way the committee functioned, including not following protocol for the depositions about sexual harassment. Nothing about the report, which is with the sports ministry, has been revealed.

“Why has it not been revealed? Why is it that the WFI is functioning again, holding tournaments (the WFI organized a tournament in Sharan’s village, Gonda, this month), while we know nothing of what is in that report?” Malik said.

Phogat also raised objections about the committee itself.

“Most in the committee are from the same political party,” she said. “How can we expect justice?”

The five-member oversight committee included India’s only woman Olympic medallist in boxing, MC Mary Kom, Phogat’s cousin sister and former Olympics wrestler Babita, and Olympic medallist former wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt. All three are BJP leaders (Babita replaced Dutt in the committee after the wrestlers raised complaints about a leak from Dutt’s camp). The other members of the committee were drawn from the officers of the sports ministry run Sports Authority of India.

On Monday, when the wrestlers told gathered journalists that they have been waiting for almost three months to hear from the committee, the sports ministry or the sports minister, and that no one has responded, an emissary was sent from the ministry in the form of SAI deputy director general Shiv Sharma. Sharma did not offer anything to the protesters, but asked them to call off the protest and talk to the sports ministry instead.

“That time for negotiation is gone,” Phogat said. “You know how powerful he (Sharan) is. What we are up against. We are staying here, eat here, sleep here, unless we get justice.”

The sports ministry also defended its decision not to reveal the details of the report, saying that it was still “under scrutiny” before sharing what they termed as “major findings”, in the form of a letter to Indian Olympic Association president P.T. Usha. In the letter, the ministry said there were “structural lapses within the WFI”, and that it did not have an internal complaints mechanism. The letter made no reference to the sexual harassment allegations. It cancelled the ongoing process for the WFI elections which were to be held on May 7, and instead directed the IOA to form a committee to manage the federation and ensure elections are held within 45 days of the formation of the committee.

“All of this is an eyewash,” Phogat said. “Why are they hiding the real issue?”