India’s top wrestlers spent night sleeping in the open ‘on a footpath’

Top India wrestlers resumed their protest on Sunday over the issue of sexual harassment allegations against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Wrestlers prepare for night stay during their protest dharna at Jantar Mantar, in New Delhi. (PTI)

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Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and other wrestlers returned to the protest site at Jantar Mantar here demanding that the government make public the findings of the oversight panel that investigated the allegations against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief.

The wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik and Ravi Dahiya, had in January raised the issue, but ended their three-day long sit-in after marathon talks with Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur.

Vinesh Phogat shared a photo of wrestlers sleeping in the open on a footpath.

Podium से फुटपाथ तक।

आधी रात खुले आसमान के नीचे न्याय की आस में। pic.twitter.com/rgaVTM5WGK

— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) April 23, 2023

“Podium to footpath! In the jope of justice under the open sky at midnight,” she tweeted.

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Thakur had announced the five-member oversight committee, headed by legendary boxer M C Mary Kom, to look into the allegations.

Apart from Mary Kom, the other members of the Oversight Committee are Olympic medallist-wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, former badminton player and Mission Olympic Cell member Trupti Murgunde, former CEO of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme Rajesh Rajagopalan, and former Sports Authority of India executive director (teams) Radhica Sreeman.

Earlier this month, Vinesh had said the wrestlers were considering legal action against the WFI chief. “We have lost faith in the committee,” Vinesh had told The Indian Express earlier this month. “We received some assurances from the government but they were not fulfilled too. We do not know the status of the report filed by the committee as well.”

“How long is it going to take for the (government) committee to submit its report? It has already been three months and we are still waiting to hear from them. Will the report come out after the girls, who have filed complaints, die?” questioned world championship medallist Vinesh Phogat.

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“We are tired of asking the government to release the findings… We have nothing to do with the (WFI) election process. We are more concerned about our careers. The (Paris) Olympics are upon us and we want to begin preparations in right earnest,” she added.

Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik said, “We will not budge from Jantar Mantar” adding that “this fight will not stop.”