The suspended Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh pleaded his innocence in front of the government-appointed oversight committee on Tuesday, February 28. The former MP has been accused of sexual abuse by some of the most prominent wrestlers in the country but he has outrightly rejected all the charges.
The committee is led by legendary boxer MC Mary Kom and was formed on January 23. It comprises bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt, Dhyanchand awardee Trupti Murgunde, member Mission Olympic Cell, Radhica Sreeman, Ex-Executive Director, Sports Authority of India, Crd (Retd) Rajesh Rajagopalan, and Commonwealth Games 2014 gold medallist Babita Phogat.
This committee is investigating the claims made by the country's top wrestlers that Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) boss Brij Bhushan has sexually harassed several women wrestlers, intimidates the athletes and runs the sports body in an autocratic manner.
The meeting went on for nearly three hours, with a PTI source confirming his denial. "Brij Bhushan appeared before the committee today. He straightaway denied all the allegations. He said he never did anything wrong," a sports ministry source told PTI.
Some of the grapplers who chose to level these serious allegations include Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Ravi Dahiya, who have already been deposed before the committee.
The committee was started in January after the wrestlers staged a three-day sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar, demanding that Brij Bhushan be removed and WFI be disbanded. The BJP MP was later asked to step aside till the completion of the probe into his alleged misconduct.
The wrestlers have also alleged that one member of the committee, apparently 2012 London Olympic bronze medallist Dutt, is leaking sensitive information related to the probe to the media. They feel that Dutt is siding with the WFI boss.
India lost the hosting rights of the Asian Championship after wrestlers submitted a written complaint to UWW, the world governing body of the game, about the alleged misconduct of the WFI chief. The event will now be hosted in Astana in April.
(With PTI Inputs)
