Anurag Thakur To Meet Protesting Wrestlers Over Sexual Harassment Allegations

New Delhi: Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday assured that he would return to New Delhi and meet the protesting wrestlers soon.

Thakur will meet wrestlers at 10 pm on Thursday over sexual harassment allegations against wrestling body officials.

Several wrestlers, including Olympians Vinesh Phogat, Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, protested against the WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) sexually harassed and intimidated female wrestlers. Vinesh Phogat, who broke down while addressing the media on Thursday, alleged that a few coaches had sexually harassed female wrestlers during national camps in Lucknow.

Vinesh Phogat had previously alleged that coaches who are favourites of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) misbehave with women wrestlers and harass them. She also accused the WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexually exploiting women athletes and calling her a ‘khota sikka’ after her defeat at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Singh has denied the allegations.

The protesting wrestlers said they would intensify their protests until their demands were met, adding that they wanted Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to step down and the WFI to be dissolved along with several state associations.