A joint statement from women and human rights organisations condemns the State repression and police atrocities on the wrestlers in their struggle for justice against sexual harassment.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Several women and human rights organisations have condemned the subversion of law by the Delhi Police, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP government at the Centre in keeping Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, former president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), out of police custody.
A statement signed by the organisation said “the powerful and well-connected, including members of the legislature and godmen, can manipulate the law through various tactics including intimidating witnesses. In cases of sexual harassment and assault, the complainants are often forced to change their statements. The pressure is so high that the families succumb, and the accused manage to walk away unscathed.”
Singh, a BJP member of parliament, is accused of sexual harassment by several women wrestlers, including a minor.
The statement was signed by officials of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA), All India Mahila Sanskritik Sangathan (AIMSS), Act Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD), Centre for Struggling Women (CSW), Indian Christian Women’s Movement, Delhi (ICWM, Delhi), Lawyers Collective, National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Pragatisheel Mahila Sangathan, Purogami Mahila Sangathan, Saheli Women’s Resource Centre, and Young Women’s Christian Association.
The statement pointed out that the father of the minor had explicitly stated in the Supreme Court that Brij Bhushan Singh was powerful and had requested protection. He feared that there would be intimidation and pressure. The minor, who is the main witness in the FIR 0077/2023 filed at police station Connaught Place, u/s 354, 354 (A), 354 (D)/ 34 of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) had also given a statement under oath to a magistrate last month.
“In POCSO there is a presumption that the offence has been committed, especially after a statement before a magistrate. Therefore, an arrest is imperative. Since the primary witnesses are minors, they are vulnerable to pressure. Despite these factors, the accused Brij Bhushan Singh is enjoying absolute impunity and has not been arrested,” the statement said.
The consequence of not making an immediate arrest has been that five weeks after the FIR was lodged, it is alleged that on June 2, a second statement was given by the minor to the magistrate contradicting her original statement, it added.
“We are very clear that it is for a court of law to independently monitor the investigation and come to a just conclusion. However, we would like to state that this country has no witness protection programme and once again the criminal justice system has failed our women struggling for justice,” the signatories said.
In the meanwhile, they said, the Delhi Police must continue the investigation in a fair and just manner and immediately arrest Brij Bhushan Singh and file strong chargesheets, including the second FIR 0078/2023, u/s 354, 354 (A), 354 (D)/34, where six women wrestlers are the complainants.
“We demand that action be taken against the Delhi Police for the brutal violence unleashed on the wrestlers on 28 May. The police broke up the protest with excessive force, detained the wrestlers and evicted them from Jantar Mantar. They continue to be named as offenders in FIR number 60/2023, Parliament Street Police Station. We demand its immediate closure,” the signatories said.
The statement bemoans the fact that the State, instead of helping the wrestlers who have won many laurels for India, is traumatising them physically and emotionally, including in selection for forthcoming sporting events and the threat related to their jobs in the Indian Railways.
“It is a moment of deep anguish that despite the last five decades of jurisprudence to strengthen the law against sexual violence and enable the complainants to fight for justice, the developments in the wrestler’s case show us how pervasive the culture of impunity has deeply embedded and reinforced by the BJP,” the statement said.
The signatories expressed their outrage and condemned the support that the accused Brij Bhushan Singh has from the BJP. “He will be allowed to address forthcoming BJP rallies in Kaiserganj and other cities in UP. Such public glorification and legitimacy should be stopped now as it would be disastrous and demotivate women fighting rape and sexual violence all over the country,” they said.
The women’s movement and other social movements, the statement said, are prepared to take on the present challenges. “We will not step back, instead fight for our rights to be preserved, which must start with the arrest of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh before more witnesses are intimidated. The fight for justice and dignity of our wrestlers is not their fight alone, but a fight to implement the rule of law,” the signatories concluded.