Integrity Score 814
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A close aide of ex WFI Chief, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is accused of sexually harassing six women wrestlers, allegedly tried to intimidate female complainants on multiple occasions when they deposed before the members of the government-appointed oversight committee, according to a written complaint.
An email, sent to the committee by one of the complainants who was spearheading the protest against Singh, forms part of the Delhi police chargesheet running into 1,600 pages. It alleges that Singh's men approached the 'victimised' wrestlers and tried to create pressure on them to retract their statements.
In one of the emails written on February 13, 2023 to the committee, the complainant wrote: "I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the privacy breach that took place at JLN stadium on February 9, 2023 while statements were being recorded. As you are aware, we were called to the venue with the assurance of complete privacy and confidentiality. However, to our surprise, we found Brij Bhushan's favourites Jai Prakash, Mahavir Bishnoi and Dilip roaming around the conference (room) the entire day while statements were being recorded... (it) made the environment completely uncomfortable and unauthentic."
The committee was comprised of Mary Kom, also chairperson Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) athletes commission, London Olympics bronze-winning wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, three-time CWG medallist Babita Phogat, former badminton player Trupti Murgunde and ex-Sports Authority of India (SAI) officials Radhica Sreemanand Cdr Rajesh Rajagopalan.
As per the enclosures which form part of the chargesheet, it has been learnt that Babita didn't concur with the findings of the committee and signed the final report in protest.
Among other things, the committee agreed with the depositions made by other witnesses - Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Dahiya, reigning Asian Games and CWG champion Bajrang Punia and Deepak Punia - concurring that the players' commercial contracts were breached by the WFI.
Source: TimesofIndia