On Tuesday, the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi granted interim bail for two days to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the chief of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), along with Vinod Tomar. This decision comes in relation to the alleged sexual harassment of wrestlers.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal granted Singh interim relief and ordered him to furnish bail bonds amounting to Rs 25,000. The court has scheduled the next hearing for Singh’s regular bail plea on July 20, 2023.
During the hearing, Singh’s counsel Rajiv Mohan raised concerns about media influence in the case, prompting the judge to suggest the possibility of filing an application before the high court or trial court.
Singh was summoned by a Delhi court after it took cognizance of a 1500-page chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police against him for alleged sexual harassment, assault, and stalking of six women wrestlers. The chargesheet contained testimonies from the six wrestlers, statements from witnesses, and technical evidence such as photographs, videos, and call detail records. The police cited photo and video evidence to support the complaints.
The chargesheet against Singh included sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Meanwhile, Tomar faced charges under sections 109 (abetment of any offence, if the act abetted is committed in consequence, and where no express provision is made for its punishment), 354, 354A, and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.
In April, seven female wrestlers, including a minor, filed separate complaints of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation against Singh. They alleged a total of 15 incidents of sexual harassment, including ten episodes of inappropriate touching, as well as instances of intimidation and stalking.
Later, the minor and her father, who was the initial complainant, withdrew their allegations against Singh in a fresh statement before a magistrate. Consequently, the Delhi Police filed a cancellation report under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
