Wrestlers’ stir: After a day of hectic protests, wrestlers look forward to Friday practice session

“We have not been able to practise for three days and the mosquitoes here have been bothering us every night. We are too tired to talk to anyone,” wrestler Vinesh Phogat told The Indian Express.

On a barricade right next to their tent was pasted a long list of charges pressed against BJP MP and WFI president Brij Bhushan.

Earlier, around 11 pm on Wednesday, a scuffle broke out between the wrestlers who were bringing folding beds to sleep at the protest site and the on-duty police personnel. The police told them that rules do not permit bringing in such things at the protest site. Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik claimed that they were abused and pushed by male police officers, leaving them in tears. Two wrestlers, including Sangeeta Phogat’s brother Dushyant, suffered injuries.

“We were trying to get a few mattresses last night to the protest site as it was raining and everything was wet, we needed some new ones to sleep on, that is when the scuffle between us and the police started,” said one of the wrestlers.

Meanwhile, Swati Maliwal, chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women who reached the protest site around 12 am said that the Delhi Commission for Women has recorded the statements of the women wrestlers and promised to take action.

“The woman wrestlers told me that a few Delhi police personnel were drunk and manhandled them. I was told that there were no female officers present. But when I got to the site I could see female personnel… The Delhi police have not yet registered the statement of these women under 164… the FIR has been lodged after a gap of six days in this case,” she said.

Maliwal further called for an investigation against the senior officers of Delhi Police, especially DCP New Delhi and SHO Parliamentary Street, because they “were the ones who first got the complaint of the women” and did not lodge an FIR. “The law says that if any police officer does not take any action against sexual harassment complaints, action must be taken against the officer. DCW will be issuing summons soon”

The Delhi Police Thursday denied allegations that its personnel were drunk or used force against protesting wrestlers during a late-night ruckus at Jantar Mantar between police and some grapplers.

New Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Pranav Tayal said that five police personnel were injured in the ruckus. The wrestlers, on the other hand, have alleged that they were beaten up by the police and a couple of protesters were injured in the head.

Various organisations such as the All India Democratic Youth Organisation, Student Federation of India, Krantikari Yuva Sangathan, etc have come in support of the protesting wrestlers. A few students who got injured while demanding justice for the protesting wrestlers in the sexual harassment case at Delhi University on Wednesday gathered at Jantar Mantar to speak with the wrestlers.

“I spoke to Bajrang Punia and he said he was with us and felt bad that I got hurt. And we told him that we are also with them until they get justice” said Priya,19, a first-year BA student from Delhi University who belongs to the KYS unit.