Police file cancellation report, say no proof against Brij Bhushan in POCSO case
The police’s 552-page cancellation report filed in a Delhi court cites statements from a minor wrestler, her father, Singh, and other witnesses
No corroborative evidence was found against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in the case filed against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO ) Act, the Delhi Police told a local court on Thursday.
The police’s 552-page cancellation report filed in the court cites statements from a minor wrestler, her father, the complainant, Singh, and other witnesses. A cancellation report is filed in cases when no corroborative evidence is found. The court will hear the matter next on July 4.
The minor was among the women athletes who levelled sexual harassment charges against Singh, who headed WFI for 12 years. Her father, as the complainant in the POCSO Act case, withdrew the allegations and recorded a fresh statement before a magistrate.
Deputy police commissioner (New Delhi) Pranav Tayal said they filed the report requesting for the cancellation of the case based upon statements of the minor and her father after completion of the investigation.
Police on Sunday said that four of the six women athletes provided audio and visual evidence to corroborate their allegations.
Wrestlers seeking action against Singh suspended their protest until June 15 after Union minister Anurag Thakur on June 7 met Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and assured them that the charge sheet in the case would be filed by June 15.
In cases such as those related to sexual harassment, the burden of proof lies on investigating agencies. Police did not file a first information report (FIR) for weeks until the Supreme Court directed them to do so.
On Friday last, a team of Delhi Police visited the WFI office with one of the complainants for about 30 minutes to recreate the sequence of events even as Singh was in his house on the same premises. Punia said the complainant went through “mental trauma” after the visit.
The protesting wrestlers camped at Jantar Mantar for 38 days demanding Singh’s immediate arrest until the Delhi Police uprooted their tents there on May 28. They were manhandled, stopped, and detained as they sought to march to the new Parliament building during its inauguration that day.
The wrestlers later held off on immersing their medals in the Ganga as part of their protest against Singh and broke down in a huddle played out on live television.
The Delhi Police wrote to wrestling federations of five nations seeking details in connection with the alleged incidents of sexual harassment as part of their probe. The responses are expected to be part of a supplementary charge sheet in the case.
A Special Investigation Team probing the matter questioned over 180 people and visited Singh’s residence in Gonda to record statements of the outgoing his relatives, colleagues, and associates