Women wrestlers sexual harassment case: Court records statement of SIT members

A Delhi court on Tuesday (May 12, 2026) recorded the testimony of Special Investigation Team (SIT) members while examining the allegations of sexual harassment levelled by women wrestlers against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and ex-BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Ashwani Panwar of the Rouse Avenue Court recorded the statement of SIT Inspector Sandeep and directed the Investigating Officer to depose on May 15 and 19.

Several renowned wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, and Sangeeta Phogat had protested for months in New Delhi in 2023, demanding the arrest of the BJP leader for allegedly sexually harassing several women grapplers, including a minor. The complaint stated that the harassment took place between 2016 and 2019 at the WFI office, at Mr. Singh’s official residence, and also during trips abroad.

Trial statements recorded

As the grapplers’ protest continued for weeks, the Union Sports Ministry had constituted an oversight committee to internally investigate the matter.

The police filed an FIR against Mr. Singh and former WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar after the intervention of the Supreme Court in May 2023. In June that year, a 1,000-page chargesheet was filed in the court.

Over the last two years, the court has recorded the trial statements of victims, witnesses, and Mr. Singh. However, a minor wrestler later took back her complaint and changed her statement.

Ms. Phogat, who is also a Congress MLA from Haryana, recently disclosed that she was among the victims in the case, almost three years after the initial sexual harassment complaints.

Mr. Singh has maintained that the case is politically motivated.