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Wrestlers' sexual harassment case: Delhi court summons Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on July 18The court also summoned Vinod Tomar, suspended assistant secretary of the Wrestling Federation of India.
Ashish Tripathi
DHNS
Last Updated IST
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Credit: PTI Photo
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Credit: PTI Photo

A Delhi court on Friday issued summons against BJP MP and outgoing WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a case of alleged sexual harassment of women wrestlers.

It found that there was sufficient evidence to proceed against the accused.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Harjeet Singh Jaspal, directed Brij Bhushan to appear before the court on July 18 after taking cognisance of the chargesheet filed against him.

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The court also issued summons against Vinod Tomar, suspended assistant secretary of the Wrestling Federation of India.

Delhi Police had filed a chargesheet against Brij Bhushan, a six-time MP, on June 15 under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.

Tomar was named as accused of offences under Sections 109 (abetment of any offence, if the act abetted is committed in consequence, and where no express provision is made for its punishment), 354, 354A and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.

On May 4, the Supreme Court had closed the proceedings on a plea filed by women wrestlers alleging sexual harrasment against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Singh, as the FIRs were lodged on their complaint and security has been provided to the athletes.

Two FIRs, including one under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), were lodged against Singh by the Delhi police on April 28. However, the police filed a closure report in the case filed on the minor's complaint after she reportedly retracted from her statement made before a judicial magistrate.

The action had Singh had come after a month-long sit in at Jantar Mantar here by Olympian wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and other grapplers, most of whom hailed from Haryana, demanding removal of Singh as WFI chief and his arrest.

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(Published 07 July 2023, 14:51 IST)