Olympic bronze medallist Bajrang Punia mentioned on Friday that the end result of the wrestlers’ protest will resolve if the progressive change within the perspective of households in the direction of ladies in sport will proceed.
“In our society and nation, households don’t even know what sexual harassment is. There are such a lot of ladies wrestlers who stepped apart due to this. About 14-15 ladies complained to the preliminary committee that was made to deal with this challenge, however when it got here to submitting a criticism with the police, solely seven had been left. There have been others who didn’t come ahead in any respect,” Bajrang mentioned at Jantar Mantar, including it takes monumental power for girls to talk up in circumstances of this nature.
Bajrang, together with different high wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat, have been protesting in New Delhi demanding the arrest of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and BJP MP Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, alleging sexual harassment and exploitation of ladies wrestlers. Seven ladies – together with a minor – have come ahead with their complaints and FIRs have been filed towards Singh in addition to federation’s assistant secretary Vinod Tomar.
“Over time, I’ve seen a whole lot of change in society in how they understand ladies in sport – particularly wrestling. They noticed Sakshi win a medal on the Olympics, medals had been coming on the World Championships, and slowly households started altering their perspective,” he mentioned. “However after discovering out the issues which have surfaced right here, who will need to ship their daughters into sports activities?”
These statements had been made on the day Delhi Police gave a standing report in court docket concerning their investigation towards Singh, informing {that a} Particular Investigation Workforce (SIT) has been fashioned to cope with the case. The Indian Specific reported that each Singh and Tomar have been questioned by Delhi Police twice, and that the cops have recorded the assertion of the minor sufferer earlier than a Justice of the Peace beneath Part 164 of the Code of Legal Process (CrPC) on Wednesday.
The Indian Specific report additionally reveals that the police have obtained the report of the Oversight Committee, fashioned in January when the wrestlers first got here out on the streets to protest.
Bajrang welcomed the formation of the SIT and is hopeful {that a} swift and simply inquiry will happen, however is sceptical concerning the oversight committee’s report. “When you go by what the committee has to say, you’ll assume that Brijbhushan is an image of innocence,” he mentioned.
“We had excessive expectations from the committee. There have been former sportspersons in it, in addition to former officers of sports activities our bodies. We had been promised justice, huge statements had been made,” he added. “The day Brijbhushan got here in entrance of them, they didn’t actually have a lawyer current. I accompanied each single lady that made a criticism to the committee, there was a lawyer current for every of them. It’s clear now that that they had determined beforehand that they might declare him harmless.”
The wrestlers had beforehand agreed to finish their sit-in protest after assurances from the sports activities ministry and the formation of the oversight committee, however returned to Jantar Mantar attributable to lack of progress within the case.
