Brij Bhushan acquitted in sexual harassment case
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court Monday acquitted BJP ex-MP and former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in the sexual harassment case filed by women wrestlers. Suspended WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar was also acquitted.Additional chief judicial magistrate Ashwini Panwar pronounced the verdict during in-camera proceedings. The detailed order is awaited.The trial concluded nearly three years after Delhi Police filed its chargesheet against Singh, during which the court examined 32 prosecution witnesses. Of the six complainants, two later turned hostile, while charges were not framed in relation to the allegations of the third complainant.Public prosecutor Manish Rawat told TOI, “We will get the judgment tomorrow. We will examine it and take appropriate steps before higher courts accordingly.”The case arose from complaints by several women wrestlers alleging Singh sexually harassed them between 2016 and 2019 at WFI office, his official residence and on foreign trips. The charges triggered months-long protests in New Delhi in 2023 by prominent wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sangeeta Phogat, demanding Singh’s arrest.
‘Complainants repeatedly changed their statements’Following SC’s intervention in May 2023, Delhi Police registered an FIR against Singh. The Union sports ministry constituted an oversight committee to conduct an internal probe. On June 15, 2023, police filed a chargesheet against Singh under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment, including sexually coloured remarks), 354D (stalking) and 506(1) (criminal intimidation) of IPC. Tomar was booked under Section 109 (abetment).On May 10, 2024, the trial court framed charges of sexual harassment and outraging the modesty of women against Singh in connection with the complaints of five women wrestlers, while discharging him in the complaint of the sixth wrestler. Tomar was charged under section 506(1) for alleged criminal intimidation in connection with one complainant and discharged from the remaining allegations.In May 2025, another Delhi court accepted a closure report filed by police in the complaint of a wrestler who was a minor when she made the allegations, after cops said they found “no corroborative evidence”.During the in-camera trial, the defence argued the complainants repeatedly changed their statements by altering the dates and locations of the alleged incidents, also highlighting the delay in lodging the complaints, arguing that some allegations related to incidents that were seven to eight years old. The prosecution, however, maintained that the victims’ statements remained consistent.Reacting to the verdict outside Rouse Avenue Court, Singh said: “I said on the very first day that if the allegations are true, I will hang myself. I am very happy that I have been acquitted today. It is good news for me and good news for my supporters.”
