New DelhI: Several of India’s top wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, were detained by police yesterday as they intensified their protest demanding the arrest of their federation chief over sexual harassment allegations. The wrestlers originally hit the street in January demanding action again Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has denied allegations of sexually harassing several female athletes.

The protest was withdrawn after Singh, also a member of parliament from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, was stripped of all administrative powers by the sports ministry.

The wrestlers resumed their protest on April 23 demanding Singh’s arrest and have since been camping near the new parliament building which Modi inaugurated yesterday.

“They broke the barricades and didn’t follow police directions,” senior Delhi Police officer Dependra Pathak told local media. Malik, who won the women’s 58kg freestyle bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics, shared photos and video of the wrestlers being dragged away by the police.

“This is how our champions are being treated. The world is watching us,” she tweeted.

Published in The Daily National Courier, May, 29 2023

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