India

Minor wrestler’s father says stands by sexual harassment charges against WFI chief

Two days ago, farmers and representatives of Khap panchayats gave Centre an ultimatum to arrest Singh by June 9 or prepare for a larger protest

New Delhi: The father of a 17-year-old wrestler, who levelled sexual harassment charges against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, on late Sunday asserted that he has not withdrawn the charges.

Speaking to IANS, the father of the victim asserted that whatever is running on social media regarding the “withdrawal” of their statement (on the charges) is fake.

“We stood by our statement and I am out of the station and neither in Delhi nor Haryana,” he said, seeking to end the spreading speculations on the issue.

Two days ago, farmers and representatives of Khap panchayats (community courts) gave the Centre an ultimatum to arrest Singh by June 9 or prepare for a larger protest.

A collective and unanimous decision in this regard was taken at the ‘mahapanchayat’ held in Haryana’s Kurukshetra town on the future strategy of wrestlers’ protest.

On June 1, a ‘mahapanchayat’ was held in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar where it was decided that a delegation would meet President Droupadi Murmu to seek justice for the wrestlers.

At the Kuruksheta mahapanchayat, Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait warned the Central government that if they aren’t allowed to protest at Jantar Mantar on June 9, “there will be an announcement of agitation.”

The farmer leader also demanded that cases against the wrestlers, who were manhandled and detained during their march towards the new Parliament building during its inauguration on May 28, should be withdrawn.

The same day, Delhi Police had cleared their protest site at Jantar Mantar.

This post was last modified on June 5, 2023 8:32 am

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Indo-Asian News Service

Indo-Asian News Service or IANS is a private Indian news agency. It was founded in 1986 by Indian American publisher Gopal Raju as the "India Abroad News Service" and later renamed. The service reports news, views and analysis from the subcontinent about the country, across a wide range of subjects.

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