Four wrestlers share audio, visual evidence against former WFI chief with police

Ex-WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is expected to be indicted soon. Some of India's most successful athletes have been protesting against him.

Four of the six women athletes who have accused former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment have provided audio and visual evidence to corroborate their allegations, the police said on Sunday.

Former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.(PTI)

Police are preparing to file an indictment against Singh, against whom some of India’s most successful athletes, including Olympic medallists and world champions, have been on protest, though they have suspended the stir till June 15 after the government sought time for a charge sheet to be filed.

A senior Delhi Police officer, aware of the matter, said separate notices, under Section 91 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), were issued to the six complainants on June 5 by the special investigation team (SIT) probing the matter.

“In such cases, burden of proof lies on investigating agencies. And for that, we are trying to collect the smallest evidence available in possession of the accused as well as the victims. In this case, we had given 24 hours’ time to the complaints to furnish all the evidences they have. But only four of them could give us the documentary, audio or visual evidences so far,” he said, asking not to be named.

Delhi Police had told a local court about the SIT on May 12. The police did not respond to requests for comment when asked why the complainants were only given 24 hours notice to submit evidence on June 5.

The conduct of the Delhi Police leaves scope for significant questions. Due process is important and the nature of allegations against Singh and his position of power make for a difficult mix that will need police and prosecutors to walk the extra mile to demonstrate they are functioning free of political influence. That police did not file a first information report (FIR) for weeks until they were directed by the Supreme Court to do so has already cast doubts over the nature of the probe.

The officer cited in the first instance claimed that the two complainants did not provide “substantial evidence which could support their allegations against Singh”. “We had asked the complainants to furnish all the dates and time of the alleged incidents. They had also been asked to provide the details of their roommates and the hotels where the alleged sexual harassment took place during overseas tournaments,” he said.

Another investigator said that the case is still under active investigation and no amount of goading shall impact the investigation by the SIT, ostensibly referring to posts on social media. “Evidence collection, establishing sequence of events and ensuring that it holds in court is the prime responsibility that is being carried out with utmost proficiency. The SIT had also issued summons to the accused in these cases to provide all evidence that refutes the allegations levelled against them. They have also provided certain documents and visuals in their defence. So far, the SIT has questioned and recorded the statements of over 200 people in connection with this case. Our team had also visited my places in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan, besides different locations in the national Capital while probing this case,” the officer said.

The second officer, however, said the call for evidence from the complainants was not a new practice. “It is an integral part of any investigation that if someone makes serious allegations against anyone, the investigators have the power to issue the notice to the complainant to provide all the evidences within the stipulated timeframe mentioned in the notice, which may corroborate the allegations made in the complaints,” he said.

But multiple former police officers believe that the manner in which the probe is proceeding is questionable. “Firstly, in such cases, the police should have been proactive, which they were not yet. The FIR should have been a foregone conclusion, which did not happen without the intervention of the Supreme Court. The manner in which Delhi Police are dealing with this investigation, I would say that the less said the better,” said Vikram Singh, former DGP of Uttar Pradesh.

“This investigation is very basic — first is the FIR, followed by recording the statement of the victim, the survivor or the prosecutrix, corroborating the evidence and other material found during the course of investigation. And that’s the end of the investigation. But nothing like this has happened in this case,” Singh said.

On Friday, 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. Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia, who is among the prominent names involved in the agitation, said the complainant went through “mental trauma” after the visit.