NEW DELHI: As India’s top wrestlers continue with their protest against the alleged sexual abuse, country’s sports ministry has admitted to structural gaffes in the federation governing Indian wrestling.
The Indian athletes demanded the arrest of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) head Brij Bhushan Singh on charges of sexual abuse. Singh has, however, denied the allegations.
The ministry is yet to comment on the sexual allegation in its letter sent to the Indian Olympic Association.
The protesting wrestlers have also filed a petition in the Indian Supreme Court seeking to register a criminal case against Singh.
The petition alleged that the police had not registered a case against the WFI chief despite several female wrestlers lodging complaints against him over alleged sexual harassment and criminal intimidation.
On Tuesday, the Indian Supreme Court said the allegations in the plea were “serious” and asked the Delhi police to explain why they had not registered a case against Singh.
In January, several top wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, staged protests accusing Singh and other ministry officials of sexually harassing female wrestlers for several years.
At the time, the WFI had denied all the charges levelled by the wrestlers, including that of sexual misconduct.
As the protests continued in New Delhi, the federal government asked Singh to step down for a few weeks and formed a committee to oversee the federation’s activities.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has also established a committee to probe the allegations against Singh, a lawmaker and politician from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The committee submitted its initial report in April, but its findings have not been made public yet.
On Monday, India’s sports ministry said hat the IOA’s report was “under examination” but flagged some “significant findings” after preliminary scrutiny.
The ministry admitted that the WFI had no internal complaints committee, as mandated by law, to look into allegations of sexual harassment and added that there was a “need for more fairness and transparency” and “effective communication” between the WFI and athletes.
President of the IOA PT Usha said that the association will discuss the case on April 27 and provide “actionable solutions to the current stalemate in WFI”.
Since Sunday, India’s top athletes had been protesting at Jantar Mantar, a heritage site in Delhi.
On Sunday night, two-time World Championship medalist Vinesh Phogat tweeted a photo of the protesters sleeping in under the sky.
“From podium to footpath! Under the open sky at night in the hope of justice,” she tweeted.
