A Delhi court has charged Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh with sexual harassment and outraging the modesty of five female wrestlers based on allegations from six women. The decision was made by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Priyanka Rajpoot at the Rouse Avenue Court.
The court found sufficient evidence to charge Singh under Sections 354 (outraging modesty of a woman) and 354A (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code for incidents involving five of the wrestlers. Additionally, Singh was charged under Section 506(1) (criminal intimidation) of the IPC in connection with two of the wrestlers. However, Singh was cleared of charges concerning the sixth victim.
Vinod Tomar, the former assistant secretary of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), was also charged with criminal intimidation against one of the victims, though he was not charged with abetment concerning Singh’s actions.
The allegations against Singh stemmed from complaints filed by the wrestlers, leading to a police first information report (FIR). On June 15, 2023, police submitted a chargesheet against Singh, citing violations under several sections of the IPC, including sexual harassment and criminal intimidation.
The wrestlers initially sought Supreme Court intervention for registering an FIR, which the Delhi Police later confirmed had been registered. A minor wrestler also accused Singh but later withdrew her complaint, prompting police to seek cancellation of the case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act).
On April 26, the court denied Singh’s request for a further investigation into the case, despite his assertion that he was not in Delhi at the time of one of the alleged incidents.
