Global Courant
After months of passionate protest by Olympic wrestlers that drew national attention in India, police filed a report on Thursday sexual harassment and harassment against a powerful politician from a ruling party and former head of the Indian wrestling federation.
The wrestlers have accused the politician, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, of molesting at least seven young women, including a minor, over the course of a decade starting in 2012.
Charges against him also include assault and stalking, and if convicted could face up to five years in prison. Mr Singh has denied the allegations against him.
The government announced a committee in January to investigate the allegations, but months of inactivity followed – a reflection, protesters say, of Mr Singh’s political connections as a member of parliament from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP.
Frustration at the lack of progress led some of India’s most accomplished wrestlers to protest day and night in New Delhi. At the end of last month, police forcibly dismantled their protest camp, she held and accused them of disturbing public order. In response, the wrestlers prepared to throw their medals, including some won at the Olympics, into the Ganges in protest, but did not do so after the intervention of community leaders.
Days after, the wrestlers met with the country’s powerful interior minister, Amit Shah, who promised them that there would be a fair investigation.
Mr Singh was not arrested during the police investigation and it seems unlikely that he will be arrested before he appears in court on the charges. The judges will begin hearing the case next month.
However, the charges were only a partial victory for the wrestlers. The Delhi Police, which is under the control of the federal government, has filed a separate report in connection with the allegation made by the minor against Mr. Singh.
In the case, police said there was no “confirming evidence” against Mr Singh, and prosecutors tried to suspend the case, said Suman Nalwa, a spokeswoman for the Delhi Police. If that hadn’t happened, Mr. Singh have been automatically arrested under laws designed to protect minors.
Hari Kumar contributed reporting.
