Hyderabad: Member of legislative council Kalvakuntla Kavitha has extended her support to the wrestlers’ movement against alleged sexual harassment of women athletes by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh.
Kavitha has demanded action in the matter. She has questioned despite serious charges like Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO), why the accused was still moving about freely.
Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, is one of the key charges levelled against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Singh in which the principle ‘innocent till proven guilty’ does not apply. in the matter. Once a complaint is filed in the case, it gets presumed that he had the intention to commit a sexual act.
Kavitha questions Center’s silence
Former Nizamabad MP Kavitha Kalvakuntla came down heavily upon the Union government and reminded that the women wrestlers have brought pride to the nation with their victories across the globe, and the absolute silence by the BJP at the Centre is no response to the emerging issue.
She called for action by the Center that is in the national interest and that of the dignity of the athletes.
“The government of India must think in the interest of the country in these 5 days and the ongoing brutality with these gold medal awarded women players is absolutely reprehensible,” she said.
“The government must know that the entire country wants an answer and the world is watching. ACT NOW”, she wrote in a tweet.
Olympic medalist wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik along with Vinesh Phogat, who have accused the WFI chief of sexual harassment and have been demanding his arrest, reached Uttarakhand’s Haridwar to immerse all their medals including Olympic medals in river Ganga on Tuesday evening, as a mark of their protest.
However, after much persuasion from the Khap and farmer leaders, the wrestlers have given five more days to the Centre to take necessary action against the WFI chief failing which they will immerse their medals in the Ganga.
Several ace wrestlers including Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik have been protesting against the WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh accusing him of sexual harassment and demanding his arrest. They also went on to question how the women wrestlers had to hide for the entire day.
