Day after charges, minor’s father hopes to move on: ‘Shaken... wish wrestlers well’

The events of the past few months have left the 38-year-old shaken, even paranoid. “I have lost all trust in people around me…I fear for my life,” he said.

Haryana: A day after Delhi Police asked a city court to quash a case against former wrestling federation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, the father of the minor complainant is a study in contradictions.

On Thursday, Delhi Police charged Singh with sexual harassment, stalking, and assault or force to outrage the modesty of a woman, but told a court to cancel the Pocso case due to a lack of corroborating evidence.

He said he was repeatedly intimidated to take back his original statements, but quickly added that the threats came from his immediate family, not anyone linked to the strongman politician.

He said he fabricated most of the allegations that made up the bulk of one of the two first information reports (FIRs) against Singh, but insisted that one of the incidents mentioned in the FIR — where the 66-year-old parliamentarian allegedly made the minor complainant uncomfortable — is true.

He said that he wished the best to the protesting wrestlers — a group that includes some of India’s most decorated players pressing for the immediate arrest of Singh — and wants their allegations thoroughly probed. But he also admitted that the idea for the now-withdrawn allegations came to him, of his own accord, during a meeting with Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia, Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, and double World Championships medallist Vinesh Phogat, mere days before they began their protest.

The events of the past few months have left the 38-year-old shaken, even paranoid. “I have lost all trust in people around me…I fear for my life, and also for my family,” he said.

In many ways, his travails reflect the experiences of the small man in India when, on the rare occasion, he dares to take on the powerful. “I wish I had not gone into this at all. My life has become a complete mess,” he added.

On Thursday, Delhi Police charged Singh with sexual harassment, stalking, and assault or force to outrage the modesty of a woman, but told a court to cancel the Pocso case due to a lack of corroborating evidence. This came days after the minor complainant withdrew her statement against Singh before a district magistrate and her father told reporters that the allegations were fabricated.

The minor’s FIR alleged that Singh invited her to his room where he “tried making forceful physical contact with her” and asked the minor to meet him “personally” on another occasion.

“None of these incidents happened. No one asked me to cook them up either. I was angry due to biased refereeing at the Asian Championships trials in Lucknow where one such decision cost her the bout and ended her chances to make it to the Indian team,” the father said.

But, he claimed, a third incident is true. “The incident at Ranchi where Singh pressed her shoulder while getting a picture clicked did happen and the girl was uncomfortable. It was a case of good touch and bad touch, and such things are too tough to be proven in court. Barring this, every other statement on sexual harassment was fabricated,” he added.

The idea to level false allegations, he said, came to him during a meeting with the wrestlers days before their stir at Jantar Mantar began on April 23. “They had come to a nearby akhada for a meeting and I was there too. I came to know they were planning a protest. I thought maybe by jumping on the bandwagon I will get justice. I cooked up the allegations and approached the wrestlers who supported me with all their heart,” he added.

But he changed his mind on April 28, when a planned march to the new Parliament building was blocked, and the police manhandled the wrestlers.

“I was at Jantar Mantar that day. I saw the State’s power at work there. No khap or farmer leader was present to face the police. When the police removed the tents, I was among the last ones to leave. That’s when I realised I won’t be able to withstand such a situation,” he said.

Later that night, he said he met Punia, Phogat and Malik and told them the pressure was getting to him. “I told them in as many terms that while I support their cause, I may not be able to take so much pressure. They thanked me for my support and told me they understand my position.”

A persistent source of tension, he alleged, were the volley of threats he was receiving — not from Singh or his associates, but his own elder brother and father, who warned him with dire consequences if he didn’t back down.

“I don’t know on whose behest they were threatening me. They offered me good money which I refused. Some of their threats were too violent. I can’t afford to fight such people as I have a family to look after,” he added.

He says that his relationship with his father and elder brother deteriorated a decade ago. “My terms with my brother and father are very bad. My brother threatened me twice, on May 5 and May 11, and asked me to retract. My father also called me to back down, but I wanted justice for my daughter,” he said. Both his father and brother are local wrestlers.

He said he left home with her and went to Punjab to live with his sister. “It was getting too much for my daughter which is why I decided to take her out. She was slipping into depression. She started going quiet, her diet decreased, her weeping never stopped,” he said.

On June 5, he went to the local magistrate and gave a fresh statement. Once done, he says he called up Punia, Malik and Phogat separately. “None of them reacted with malice. They thanked me profusely and pledged complete support even in future. They said they could imagine the pressure I was under,” he said.

He wished the wrestlers the best.

“I see a bit of Vinesh in my daughter. Like Vinesh, my daughter is having a rough upbringing. Like her, there is an early spark in my daughter. When I told them that I had fabricated charges, none of them reacted in anger. No questions were raised, no fingers were pointed. I felt a lot lighter. It is wrong to implicate someone falsely in such serious charges although I do wish allegations levelled by six others are investigated thoroughly,” he said.

As the eyes of the nation tracked the ups and downs in the wrestling saga this month, the father-daughter duo travelled to Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra. He also tried to keep his daughter away from the news. “It is impossible to do that in this day and age but I have been trying. She participated in some local dangals in Punjab, Himachal, and Maharashtra to take her mind off.”

He said his daughter is now seeing a psychologist. “My younger son doesn’t feel like going to school. My wife simply passes out due to stress. My daughter keeps weeping,” he added.

The psychologist told him that she may take up to six months to come out of the trauma. “I won’t let her go to the national camp anytime soon, even if her name figures in the next list. But I know she is a strong kid and will come out of it.”

The minor was glued to the TV all day on Thursday, tracking developments as Delhi Police filed the charge sheet and the cancellation report, he said. “Once she was convinced that her name was out of the case, she told me she was ready to train. In fact, she had her first training session in months this morning at a local stadium. She wants to build a career in wrestling. That will make for a wonderful comeback story,” he added.

“As far as the genuine incident that did happen with my daughter, both of us are trying to move on.”