India's top wrestlers are back on dharna at Jantar Mantar after the Connaught Place Police Station did not register an FIR against disgraced Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for sexual harassment involving seven different women, including a minor.
The oversight committee that was appointed by the sports ministry to look into the allegations against Brij Bhushan and the Federation has submitted its recommendations. But the wrestlers are not happy with the fact that neither the sports ministry nor the oversight committee have provided a response to their complaints.
“Complained at the CP police two days back. 7 girls had filed a complaint but till now the FIR has not been filed. One girl is even a minor among these girls so it should be a POCSO case. Request that, please an FIR is filed as soon as possible and is punished accordingly (confirming that a sexual harassment case has been filed against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh),” said Sakshi Malik, 2016 Rio Olympic Bronze medallist.
"We have waited for two and a half months and had a lot of faith that the government will give us their support. But since the oversight committee was formed, he has received no intimation about whether the report has been submitted or not. We have returned because we want to know what the result is. Because people are now thinking that we were wrong and we lied."
"The police said to contact us on Monday. But it has already been two days and even though this is a very sensitive issue, they are still delaying it."
"We did not approach the oversight committee ourselves. We waited that the report goes public on its own. We thought that the report that was submitted will come out in public but that has not happened yet."
The same was reiterated by Vinesh Phogat, who broke down while expressing her grief to the media.
"We have undergone mental torture for the last three months because of this issue. This is about respect for women athletes. They win medals at the Olympic level. If we are not safe then how can we think about the future of other women wrestlers?"
"The person we are fighting against is a very strong personality. We do not know who all are supporting him just to save him. But we are asking the people of the nation for justice. We are also asking the High Court for justice. We will stay here, eat here, sleep here till we get justice.
"We have been trying to contact Anurag Thakur for almost three months now. We have not got any comments from the Oversight Committee or the Sports Minister. They do not pick up our calls as well."
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