Brij Bhushan acquitted in sexual harassment case
A Delhi court has acquitted former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The sexual harassment case involved allegations from several women wrestlers. Suspended WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar was also found not guilty. The trial concluded after three years with the court examining many witnesses. This verdict follows months of protests by prominent wrestlers demanding justice.
A Delhi court acquitted BJP ex-MP and former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment charges brought against him by women wrestlers. Vinod Tomar, a suspended WFI assistant secretary, was also cleared of the charges. In-camera proceedings concluded the trial, which lasted nearly three years after Delhi Police filed charges against Singh, examining 32 prosecution witnesses.
Two of the six complainants later turned hostile, and charges were not framed against the third complainant. Public prosecutor Manish Rawat stated that the judgment would be examined, and appropriate steps would be taken in higher courts. The sexual harassment allegations arose from complaints made by several women wrestlers between 2016 and 2019 at WFI office, Singh's official residence, and on foreign trips.
The case triggered protests in New Delhi in 2023 by prominent wrestlers demanding Singh's arrest. Singh was charged under sections of the IPC, including assault, sexual harassment, stalking, and criminal intimidation. Tomar was booked under Section 109 for abetment. The trial court acquitted Singh in the sexual harassment complaint of five women wrestlers while dismissing him in one complainant's case.
Singh expressed his happiness upon receiving the acquittal, stating that he would hang himself if the allegations were true.
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