Photos: Chaos as India’s police break up wrestlers’ march

Several wrestlers, including Olympic medalists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, have been arrested as they attempted to march to India’s new parliament building in New Delhi to demand the arrest of their federation chief over sexual harassment allegations.

India’s top wrestlers have been holding a sit-in at Jantar Mantar in the heart of the Indian capital for over a month. They planned Sunday’s march to coincide with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inauguration of the new parliament.

The wrestlers originally held demonstrations in January to demand action again, Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has denied allegations of sexual harassment against several female athletes.

The protest was withdrawn after Singh, also an MP from Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party, was stripped of all administrative powers by the Sports Ministry. The wrestlers resumed their protest on April 23 to demand Singh’s arrest.

“They broke through the barricades and did not follow police directions,” Delhi police chief Dependra Pathak told local media.

“They broke the law and that’s why they were detained.”

Malik, who won the bronze medal in the women’s 58kg freestyle at the 2016 Rio Olympics, shared photos and videos of the wrestlers being dragged away by police.

“This is how our champions are treated. The world is watching us,” she tweeted.