Facing harassment FIRs, Brij Bhushan: Laws to protect women being misused

Singh has been named in two FIRs registered by the Delhi Police on April 28, including one under the POCSO Act pertaining to the allegations of the minor wrestler.

Speaking at a gathering of his supporters in Bahraich on Thursday, Singh said: “Aaj hum dekh rahen hain, kis tarah se iss kanoon ka durupyog ho raha hai. Yeh mahilaon ke sanrakshan ke liye banaya gaya tha, bachhiyon ki suraksha ke liye banaya gaya tha. Lekin isse sabse zyada nuksan aaj hamari bachhiyon ka ho raha hai (We are seeing today how this law is being abused. It was enacted for the protection of women and girls. But the girls are suffering the biggest loss because of it).” He claimed that girls were not being employed in the private sector as people feared misuse of the law.

“Ektarfa hai kanoon… Isme aapko bolne ki ijaajat hi nahin hai. Kuch dharaaye aisi hain ki jaise likhi, waise turant aapko jail me jaana hai (This law is one-sided. There is no permission to speak. Some sections are such that you have to go to jail immediately after registration of case),” he said.

“Aur aaj apne-apne swarth ke karan itna vichaar girta ja raha ki iss dhaara ko ek hathyaar ke roop me logon ne apna liya hai (Due to self-interests, moral values have fallen so much that people are using this section as a weapon),” he said.

In his speech, Singh also asked the gathering to read the letter shared on his Facebook account. The letter, issued by the “Sant Sabha, Shrilakshman Qila, Ayodhya Dham”, on May 24, says that the POCSO Act, whose objective was to protect minors from sexual harassment, has become a weapon of “character assassination” and “political conspiracies”.

“Amid growing ambitions, and in the era of uncontrolled social media, POCSO Act has become a cancer in society. The sant fraternity, businessmen, politicians, actors – this law has affected all… A person becomes unacceptable just because of one allegation, even if it is false. Believing somebody is a criminal and punishing him without conducting an inquiry on the basis of allegations like teasing, staring and touching, where the authenticity remains doubtful, cannot be justified,” says the letter in Hindi.

“The existence of such a law in which there is a provision to send an accused to jail without hearing his side is against the values of a civilised society,” it says.

While stating that there should be strong punishment for sexual offences, the letter underlines a need to make identification and definition of the crime more transparent.

“The conditions defined in POCSO Act are considerable. Hence, there is immediate need to amend the POCSO Act, and to decide on strict punishment for the complainant if the allegations are found to be false or are not proved in court. Also, there is a need to protect the accused from unfair abuse during the trial,” it says.

Singh had called the meeting to discuss preparations for his Jan Chetna rally in Ayodhya on June 5. Singh said that sants from Ayodhya and other parts of the country would express their opinion on the law at the rally.

Some of India’s top wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat, have been protesting against Singh at Jantar Mantar since April 23. They have said that they will end their protest when Singh is arrested under relevant sections.

Responding to a question on Singh attending the inauguration of the new Parliament building on Sunday, Vinesh said at Jantar Mantar on Friday: “If he is present in Parliament on that day, then that itself will be a message to the whole nation.”

“The POCSO Act has been established after so much struggle and he wants it removed just because he has been booked… He thinks people like him can continue to exploit children after the Act is repealed. Any honest person would want stringent laws against such crimes. The laws cannot be changed for one man. Brij Bhushan has to pay the price for his sins,” she said.