‘Will relaunch agitation if ex-WFI chief not arrested by June 15’: Bajrang Punia
Sakshi Malik said that the wrestlers will play the Asian games only if the entire case is completed after a fair probe
Olympic medal–winning grappler Bajrang Punia on Saturday threatened to relaunch the wrestlers’ agitation if the Delhi Police fails to arrest former wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over sexual harassment charges by June 15. Meanwhile, Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik said that the wrestlers will play the Asian games only if the entire case is completed after a fair probe. They were speaking at a khap mahapanchayat in Sonepat.
“If the government fails to arrest him by June 15, we will re-launch our agitation by June 17. The agitation will be started either at Jantar Mantar or Ramlila Maidan,” Punia said.
“If Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is not arrested at the earliest, the six other complainants will also be forced to change the statement the way a minor girl changed her statements. He is a powerful man and the minor girl’s father had already stated that they are under pressure and the same way these other six complaints are also undergoing similar circumstances,” he said.
Opinion: Outcome of the wrestlers’ case is a signal to women
“There is huge pressure on complainants and justice will be ensured only after Brij Bhushan’s arrest. He is influencing the probe and a strong chargesheet is required to send him behind bars. The complainants are receiving threat calls and they are in trauma,” he said.
“The union ministers told us that the former WFI chief will be arrested after police found sufficient evidence against him. We are on our own collecting evidence against him and providing the same to Delhi police,” he added.
Punia also alleged that a woman wrestler, who was taken by police ot the WFI office to recreate the crime scene was shocked to see Singh there.
He expressed shock that a woman player had to visit the WFI office to recreate the scene.
“The woman player who accompanied Delhi police to recreate the crime scene against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is mentally upset and the complaints are going through a mental trauma,” he said.
He said hat Singh had contacted them in January when they started an agitation against him.
“Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh had told the agitators that he is ready to accept whatever Bajrang says and he requested us to take a step back but we continued our fight against this strong man. We don’t know politics and I assure you that we are fighting for our daughters’ justice,” he said.
Sakshi Malik said, “The minor girl, who had changed her statement, is undergoing trauma and other complaints will also bow down if Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is not arrested at the earliest. We will play the Asian games only if the entire case is completed after a fair probe.”
Read Here | ‘Will participate in Asian Games only when issues are resolved': Sakshi Malik
“If Brij Bhushan was sent behind bars, the minor girl might not have changed her statement. Her father is receiving threats from Bhushan’s men,” she added.
International wrestling referee, Jagbir Singh, told the gathering in Sonepat that Singh had harassed women players during a trial on March 25 last year in Lucknow and he had seen ugly behaviour of Singh in 2013 during a tournament in Kyrgyzstan.
Farmer leaders and Khaps from Haryana, Punjab, UP, Rajasthan and Delhi attended the meeting.
Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian who headed WFI for 12 years, has refuted all the charges against him.
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