Wrestlers protest: Kapil Sibal slams WFI chief, says accused has ‘no conscience’

PTI, Apr 29, 2023, 3:50 PM IST

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday hit out at Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is facing allegations of sexual harassment levelled by seven women wrestlers, and said the accused “has no conscience”.

Senior advocate Sibal is appearing for the wrestlers in the Supreme Court.

In a tweet, Sibal said, “Wrestler Protest: Electricity and Water cut off but they will wrestle and succeed. While the accused has no conscience to wrestle with!”

As the chorus of support for the protesting wrestlers grew, the Delhi Police on Friday filed two FIRs against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Singh on allegations of sexual harassment levelled by seven women wrestlers.

The First Information Reports (FIRs) were filed hours after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Delhi Police, told a Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha that a case will be registered on Friday.

While the first FIR relates to allegations of a minor wrestler and was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the second was related to outraging modesty.

Several national award-winning wrestlers have been protesting at Jantar Mantar demanding the government make public the findings of an oversight panel that investigated the sexual harassment allegations against Singh, who is also a BJP MP.

The wrestlers had asserted that they won’t leave the protest site until Singh is arrested. They resumed their sit-in protest on Sunday and demanded that the findings of the oversight panel that investigated the allegations be made public.