Four out of the six female athletes who have leveled allegations of sexual harassment against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the former president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have submitted audio and video evidence in support of their claims.
“In such cases, burden of proof lies on investigating agencies. And for that, we are trying to collect the smallest evidence available in possession of the accused as well as the victims. In this case, we had given 24 hours’ time to the complaints to furnish all the evidences they have. But only four of them could give us the documentary, audio or visual evidences so far,” Hindustan Times quoted a senior Delhi Police officer as saying.
He said separate notices, under Section 91 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), were issued to the six complainants on June 5 by the special investigation team (SIT) probing the matter.
India’s most successful wrestlers, including Olympic medallists and world champions, have been on protest against Sharan Singh. They have suspended the stir till June 15 after the government sought time for a charge sheet to be filed.
Several former senior police officers alleged that the manner in which the probe is proceeding is questionable.
“Firstly, in such cases, the police should have been proactive, which they were not yet. The FIR should have been a foregone conclusion, which did not happen without the intervention of the Supreme Court. The manner in which Delhi Police are dealing with this investigation, I would say that the less said the better,”Vikram Singh, former DGP of Uttar Pradesh said to the newspaper.
He added: “This investigation is very basic — first is the FIR, followed by recording the statement of the victim, the survivor or the prosecutrix, corroborating the evidence and other material found during the course of investigation. And that’s the end of the investigation. But nothing like this has happened in this case.”
