Trial in Brij Bhushan sexual harassment case complete, Delhi court to pronounce judgment on August 3

The defence, led by advocates Rajiv Mohan, Rishabh Bhati, Rehan Khan and Suryansh Singh, argued during in-camera proceedings that the complainants kept changing their statements. It was also argued that the complainants had either changed the place or the date of the alleged incident. In some allegations of sexual harassment, the accused wasn’t present at the place where the alleged incident took place, the advocates said.

On the other hand, Public Prosecutor Manish Rawat argued that from framing of charges till the trial, the statements of the victims have been consistent. He also submitted before court that other public witnesses corroborated their statements. The Indian Express has learnt that of the six victims, two have turned hostile. In allegations pertaining to one victim, charges were not framed.

Senior Advocate Rebecca John, assisted by Bhavook Chauhan, Harsh Bora and Anushka Baruah, who represented four complainants, argued that they had extensively testified about various incidents of sexual assault and harassment at the hands of the accused and that these testimonies had not been shaken in cross-examination.

“Corroborative witnesses, who witnessed some of these incidents, have also been examined and they have fully supported the version of the women wrestlers,” she told The Indian Express.

“In a sexual harassment case…women may complain about it much after the incident. They (the complainants in this case) essentially came from rural backgrounds. The head of the Federation was a very powerful man who, instead of encouraging them, was sexually exploiting them. Given the power differential, it was only natural that they were scared of reporting these incidents spontaneously. The Supreme Court has recognised that you have to give leeway to complainants and you can’t look at delay as the same way as you do in other cases. Four complainants withstood cross-examination,” she said.

“There were some minor lapses in memory because they were speaking of incidents that happened over time, some that were seven-eight years ago. And these lapses only pertained to dates or places where they occurred. As far as the actual occurrence of sexual assault was concerned, they were lucid and described them in as much detail as possible and withstood extensive cross-examination without being shaken. They were extremely credible witnesses,” she added.

In June 2023, Delhi Police filed a chargesheet against Singh for the alleged sexual harassment, assault and stalking of six women wrestlers. In their 1,500-page chargesheet, the police mentioned statements from at least 22 witnesses across four states, including wrestlers, a referee, a coach and a physiotherapist, who corroborated the allegations made by six women wrestlers against Singh.

In May 2024, a Delhi court framed charges against Singh under Indian Penal Code sections 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 354A (sexual harassment).