NEW DELHI: The female wrestlers who have complained of sexual harassment by outgoing WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Monday approached a city court seeking a copy of the charge sheet filed against him.
Following the protests by the wrestlers, the Delhi Police finally filed a chargesheet based on the accusations against Brij Bhushan, also a BJP MP, on June 15.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Harjeet Singh Jaspal of Rouse Avenue Court, who would be considering the charge sheet, directed the wrestlers' counsel to apply for a certified copy at the court's copying agency.
The charge sheet also named Vinod Tomar, the suspended assistant secretary of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), for offences 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, 354-A and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.
The cops, on June 15, had filed a 550-page report before Delhi's Patiala House Court seeking cancellation of charges against Brij Bhushan filed on the basis of a complaint by a minor wrestler under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act), one of the two cases against him. This will be heard on July 4.
A cancellation report is filed in cases where police fail to find corroborative evidence after due investigation. She was among the seven female grapplers who had accused Singh of sexual harassment.
The FIRs narrate several alleged instances of sexual harassment like inappropriate touching, groping, stalking and intimidation by Singh at different times and places over a decade.
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Singh has been questioned by the police twice so far, and on both occasions, he denied all the allegations against him and claimed he was being "framed".
According to police, the report for cancellation of POCSO was submitted "under section 173 Cr PC based upon statements of the complainant i.e., the father of the victim and the victim herself."
According to Special Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava, the police has filed a chargesheet against Brij Bhushan for offences under Sections 354 (outraging modesty), 354A (sexually coloured remarks), 354D (stalking) and 506 (1) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Under section 354A of the IPC, punishment will be up to one year or fine, while in 354 D it is up to five years or fine and in POCSO Act section-10, it is a maximum of seven years.
