Justice Lokur Criticizes Delhi Police for Mishandling Wrestlers’ Case, Calling it Re-Victimisation

Former Supreme Court judge Madan B. Lokur has criticized the Delhi Police for their mishandling of allegations against outgoing Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and their treatment of protesting wrestlers. In a panel discussion on Wrestlers’ Struggle: Accountability of Institutions, Justice Lokur described the victimisation that the wrestlers went through due to delayed justice and failure to address their complaints on time. He also criticised the WFI for not having a committee to deal with complaints of sexual harassment, which is against the law. Among those who protested against the delayed response from the authorities are India’s top wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia and World Champions Vinesh Phogat and Deepak Punia. They provided audio and video evidence to support their allegations, but the Delhi Police had not yet registered a first information report against Singh on multiple charges of sexual harassment and misconduct. Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party member of parliament, has denied all charges. After Union sports minister Anurag Thakur assured the wrestlers that the investigation into allegations against Singh would be completed by June 15, they decided to suspend their protests until then. Justice Lokur said that the Supreme Court should have overseen the Delhi Police investigation in this matter.