Women wrestlers appeal Brij Bhushan acquittal; Rouse Avenue court to hear plea on October 28
The hearing on the women wrestlers' appeal against the acquittal of former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and co-accused Vinod Tomar was deferred on Friday to October 28.
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Former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and co-accused Vinod Tomar were acquitted in a sexual harassment case. The women wrestlers have filed an appeal against the verdict. The criminal appeal was to be heard on Friday, but the hearing was put off. It will now be heard on October 28.
The wrestlers filed the appeal in the Rouse Avenue Sessions Court in Delhi. It seeks a fresh look at the lower court's decision acquitting Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. He was present in court during the hearing. The court has given him more time to file his reply to the appeal. It had earlier issued notices to both Brij Bhushan and Vinod Tomar seeking their responses.
The lower court at Rouse Avenue acquitted Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in the case on August 3. Four women wrestlers have challenged the verdict in the Sessions Court. The appeal challenges not only his acquittal but also the order acquitting Vinod Tomar.
The appeal claims that the magistrate court's decision cannot stand the test of law. The wrestlers allege that the court assessed the evidence wrongly and selectively. According to the appeal, the verdict rests on assumptions and reasoning, and does not correctly apply established legal principles.
The wrestlers have raised one more objection. They say the verdict relied on outdated, stereotypical thinking about the conduct of the survivor.
The case began in 2023, when several well-known women wrestlers alleged that between 2016 and 2022 Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh misbehaved with them and sexually harassed them at national and international competitions, training camps, the WFI office and other places. He has consistently denied the allegations from the start.
