• Brij Bhushan threatened wrestlers, ordered them to keep shut: Delhi Police

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    Brij Bhushan threatened wrestlers, ordered them to keep shut: Delhi Police

    The Delhi Police counsel read out the testimonies made by the wrestlers who had accused Bhushan of harassment.

    Digital Desk: During a hearing in the alleged sexual harassment case brought by women wrestlers against the BJP MP, Delhi Police said that former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh had threatened wrestlers and instructed them to be quiet. Delhi Police filed its remarks on Thursday, resuming its debate over whether to file charges against the former head of the WFI.

    The Delhi Police counsel read out the testimonies made by the wrestlers who had accused Bhushan of harassment. "Aage kushti khelni hai toh chup rehna...mei kisi ka career bana sakta hu bigad bhi sakta hu (If you want to continue wrestling then stay quiet...)" the lawyer remarked. I have the power to ruin someone's career just as easily as I can launch it."

    Under Section 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which addresses criminal intimidation, lawyer Atul Srivastava of the Delhi Police said that Brij Bhushan's threatening remarks constituted a crime.

    Brij Bhushan allegedly questioned her, "Mei dhoti kurta mei kaisa lag raha tha?" according to Srivastava, citing the account of another complainant. (How do I appear wearing my kurta and dhoti?) "Is this a question appropriate to ask a girl?" the Delhi Police attorney posed to the judge.

    Only women were permitted to access the office of co-accused Vinod Tomar, the former assistant secretary of the WFI, according to Delhi Police, citing a wrestler's complaint. The complaint requested that Tomar keep the doors to his office closed and forbid any male wrestler from going inside.

    Srivastava continued, "This demonstrates (the) intention."
    The lawyer for the Delhi Police also brought up an instance in which Brij Bhushan hugged a wrestler and afterwards described it as a "fatherly act". It was his fatherly gesture, he claimed. Guilty thoughts are always present in the mind. How come he explained things this way? Declared Srivastava.

    After the Rouse Avenue court granted Brij Bhushan's exemption, he did not attend the hearing on Thursday. It was claimed by his attorney that a "social obligation" was the reason for the exemption.

    After Judge Harjeet Singh Jaspal was recently transferred to a different court, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Priyanka Rajpoot took over as the hearing officer and heard the police's submissions.

    The order was reserved by Harjeet Singh Jaspal after he had listened to long arguments from all parties involved.

    Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to women with purpose to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC were the charges Delhi Police filed against Brij Bhushan on June 15 of last year.

    On July 20, last year, WFI additional secretary Vinod Tomar was suspended by Harjeet Singh Jaspal, who also granted bail to Brij Bhushan.