Dear Signers, 

We protested in support of the wrestlers at Doraha, in Ludhiana district of Punjab, near a statue of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. We burnt an effigy of the chief accused Brij Bhushan and were joined by former hockey captain Pargat Singh who talked about how sexual harassment towards women is pervasive in all Indian sports federations and that it's important that the protesting wrestlers prevail, so that Indian sports can be freed of the scourge of sexual violence altogether.  

Click here to share this petition on WhatsApp. Help this petition get to 40,000 signatures so that no other Indian athlete has to suffer sexual harassment in the workplace. Click here to share this petition on Twitter. 

This is not just about the wrestlers anymore. Recent news suggests that the Delhi Police has asked the wrestlers to submit audio and video proof of their allegations about sexual harassment. To me, this reads like a bad omen for all women in this country. So the next time a woman faces sexual harassment at their workplace or at a family gathering or while travelling through public transport, they should make sure to capture it on video, or else, there’s probably no use in going to the police. 

And this is among the least damning revelations about how Delhi Police’s investigation into the case is proceeding. Another news report talks about how the Delhi Police took a woman-wrestler complainant to the accused, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s MP residence at 21, Ashoka Road, New Delhi to recreate the sequence of events, while the chief accused was at the same place. The same address also houses the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) office. The complainant told the Indian Express that when she was taken to the WFI office, the police had told her nobody was there. 

“But when I came home, I learned that Brij Bhushan was there (at this home). Later, I saw that Brij Bhushan spoke to the media and said he was sleeping inside. I was very uncomfortable because he is an accused and there is an FIR against him. Just going to the spot and repeating what happened to the police was tough. After knowing he was there, I felt scared,” the complainant was quoted as saying in the report. 

Meanwhile, Sangeeta Phogat was also taken to Brij Bhushan’s residence in UP for the same purpose, to recreate the sequence of events. This practice in itself seems very strange and odd to me. This is not a homicide where the police are trying to recreate the scene of the crime. Plus, to take the complainant to the place where the alleged sexual harassment happened, without having arrested the chief accused, seems nothing but a tactic of intimidating the complainants and causing them trauma. 

Meanwhile, both the Sports Minister and the Home Minister had assured the wrestlers that a chargesheet would be filed in this case by 15th June, i.e. tomorrow, so the wrestlers have also suspended their protests till the said date. It remains to be seen if the government and the Delhi Police abide by their promise of a fair investigation. 

The media may have colluded with the establishment and avoided having news debates about the wrestlers’ allegations and kept the matter out of the news cycle, but India’s civil society will never forget what has happened so far and why it breaks our hearts. Let’s make sure to convey this to the authorities by continuing to share this petition across social media, especially Twitter. Let’s take this petition to 40,000 signatures. 

Thank you for your support, 
Samita.