NEW DELHI: Indian police filed charges of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation on Thursday against the chief of the country’s wrestling federation, a powerful member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), follow-ing complaints made by female wrestlers.
Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastav read out the charges at a court hearing in the capital New Delhi.
A police source said last week more than 155 people have been questioned in the investiga-tions against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a member of parliament from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party. The investigations followed months of complaints by the country’s top wrestlers, including several Olympic and Asian Games medallists. In an interview on Wednesday to
local media, Singh rejected all allegations against him.
The wrestlers began a sit-in protest against the lack of action in April and were brief-ly detained by police in New Delhi as they cleared the site the following month.
Images of the athletes being dragged away and carried off in buses went viral, sparking crit-icism from top athletes and opposition politicians.
The wrestlers also threatened to throw their medals into the Ganges — India’s holiest river — before agreeing to meet Home (Interior) Minister Amit Shah and later the sports minis-ter.
Amid mounting outrage, the wrestlers suspended their protest after Sports Minister Anu-rag Thakur promised a June 15 deadline to conclude the probe into Singh. –Agencies
