Modi’s silence on wrestlers’ issue ’emotionally draining’: Phogat
India’s Vinesh Phogat, who has accused the struggling body’s chief of sexually assaulting her, has accelerated the investigation into the allegations.
Vinesh Phogat, a two-time Olympian who has accused Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexually assaulting her, said she was hurt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the matter.
Indian wrestlers, including Olympic medalists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, have been protesting for months ahead of the arrest of Singh, a member of parliament from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Phogat is one of seven female athletes who have filed a police case against Singh accusing him of sexual harassment. In an interview with Reuters news agency on Saturday, the 28-year-old wrestler criticized the pace of a police investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Singh.
“I have only felt a deep sense of humiliation since I mustered up the courage to protest,” Phogat said in her first interview since she and fellow wrestlers were forced from a protest site in the capital New Delhi by police last month.
Singh has denied allegations of making sexual advances, groping and threatening female athletes if they refused to meet him alone.
Delhi Police have filed two cases against Singh, including one under the Protection of Children from Sex Offenses Act.
Phogat, the first Indian female wrestler to win gold at both the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, claims that during training camps and tournaments, Singh would “use every means possible to single out young athletes and grope them repeatedly”.
“It was the same disgusting pattern over and over and I am one of the victims,” she said at her residence in the northern state of Haryana.
In her police complaint, seen by Reuters, Phogat said she contemplated suicide after the “mental trauma” but felt revived after a 2021 meeting with Modi, who promised to look into the female wrestlers’ complaints.
“It has been emotionally exhausting, the prime minister has said nothing about this matter,” Phogat said.
She said the prosecutors had also complained in “more detail” to Sports Minister Anurag Thakur.
“But he [Thakur] wasn’t just interested in listening to my concerns…he was busy on his phone when I spoke to him,” Phogat said.
Thakur and Modi’s office was not immediately available for comment.
‘Politically motivated’
A lawyer and close associate of Singh said all the allegations were bogus and fabricated by women to tarnish the chief’s career. Singh dubbed the allegations against him as “politically motivated”.
“The fact that no one listened to us forced me and others to start a public protest because we wanted the nation to know how elite athletes were being mistreated,” Phogat said.
It has been emotionally draining, the Prime Minister has said nothing about this matter
The wrestlers took to the streets in January, but withdrew the protest after Singh lost all administrative power at the WFI.
They resumed their protest on April 23, but several were briefly detained and the protest site was forcibly cleared on May 28.
Footage of the athletes being dragged away and carted off in buses went viral, sparking criticism from top athletes and opposition politicians.
The wrestlers also threatened to throw their medals into the Ganges – India’s holiest river – before arranging a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah and later Sports Minister.
Thakur, the sports minister, then said the police would complete their investigation by June 15 and requested the wrestlers not to demonstrate until then.
“We wanted Singh to be dragged out of his house, but because he is a powerful man, he wanders around and we are told to sit at home,” said an emotional Phogat.
Singh will hold a public rally in his political constituency on Sunday.
The International Olympic Committee has condemned the detention of the wrestlers and criticized the “lack of results” in the investigation.
