Wrestlers Sexual Harassment Case: Delhi Court To Hear Arguments On Framing Charges Against Brij Bhushan Singh Next Week

Earlier this year, women wrestlers accused Singh, who was the President of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) at the time, of sexually harassing them. The Delhi Police has filed a charge sheet in the case against Singh and co-accused Vinod Tomar.

The Delhi Police has booked Singh under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354-D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Co-accused Tomar has also been booked for sexual harassment, stalking, and abetment.

In the last hearing on October 30, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Harjeet Singh Jaspal granted three weeks to the counsel for the parties to file their written arguments so they could be concluded in a "systematic manner", reported PTI. Singh's lawyer filed the reply on Wednesday, following which the judge set November 28 as the next date of hearing.

Earlier, Singh had questioned the jurisdiction of the court trying the case, claiming no alleged action or consequence happened in India, reported PTI.

Earlier this year, six women wrestlers and a minor wrestler accused Singh of sexual harassment. While the Union Sports Ministry formed panels to look into the matter, the wrestlers began a sit-in protest in Delhi over frustration inaction in the matter. After weeks of protests, Delhi Police filed two FIRs in the case on April 28. One FIR was filed under the sections of the IPC on the complaints of women wrestlers and the second was filed under the sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) on the complaint of the minor wrestler. Later, on June 15, the police filed charge sheet in the case and booked Singh co-accused Tomar with IPC sections mentioned above. The police, however, sought the cancellation of the POCSO case as the minor complainant had withdrawn the case.?