A Delhi court’s acquittal of BJP leader and former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a sexual harassment case filed by women wrestlers shouldn’t surprise anyone. From the very beginning, wrestlers appeared to be battling not just Singh but the system. Even the filing of the initial FIR needed the Supreme Court’s intervention. A little later, curiously, a minor wrestler who had levelled allegations against Singh withdrew her complaint. With that case against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) being scrapped, Singh stayed out of jail. As for the other case, the hearing was plagued by adjournments and delays, and eventually ended with the court ruling that the prosecution did not prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
Aside from the merits of the case — the women wrestlers have indicated they will appeal — what does this decision mean for the morale of women in wrestling and other sports across the country? For months, WFI has made life difficult for those who complained. Like it, many other sports bodies are run as fiefdoms, with money, muscle, and political influence coming together. In 2023, 16 of 30 national sports federations even lacked an Internal Complaints Committee. The wrestlers’ protest at Jantar Mantar in 2023 changed things, forcing some national sports federations to make changes to their structure. But they remain opaque bodies controlled by a few.
Wrestling, like any other sport, is played according to a set of rules. The playing field, at most times, is fair. The messaging from this incident and the way it has played out doesn’t sit well with that.
