New Delhi: Olympian wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Tuesday alleged that some of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) officials are threatening female wrestlers and forcing them to withdraw their complaints of sexual harassment against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
She said that attempts were being made to break the unity of the seven women wrestlers.
“Their (complainants’) family members are getting threats now. Their lives are in danger. Police must register the FIR and help the innocent people,” Vinesh told IANS. “If something happens to these complainants, Delhi Police and the government will be responsible for it.”
On Sunday, top wrestlers from the country, including Bajrang Punia, Vinesh, and Sakshi Malik, returned to the protest site at Jantar Mantar and demanded that an FIR be lodged against the WFI chief.
They are also demanding that the government should make public the findings of the report submitted by the Oversight Committee, which investigated allegations of sexual harassment against Brij Bhushan.
Vinesh expressed her disappointment over the Sports Ministry’s failure to take action against Brij Bhushan despite their protest three months ago.
“How long is it going to take for the government to act on the report submitted by the committee? We are still waiting to hear from them,” the World Championship medallist emphasised.
“We will, this time, sit here till our demands are met and Brij Bhushan Singh is arrested. We are not going to stop. We are getting support from everywhere. And we want to thank all those that are present here and urge people to come and support us for the better future of athletes in India. This is a fight of all the women athletes and they must come forward and share their views.”
The government had formed a six-member panel on January 23 to investigate into the allegations of sexual harassment and intimidation levelled against the WFI chief. The panel submitted its report on April 5 but the government has not made public its findings, saying it is still under examination.
(IANS)
