Now Reading: Four wrestlers challenge Brij Bhushan acquittal in Delhi court
-
01
Four wrestlers challenge Brij Bhushan acquittal in Delhi court
Four women wrestlers have challenged the acquittal of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a sexual harassment case. They moved the sessions court at Rouse Avenue…
Four women wrestlers have challenged the acquittal of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a sexual harassment case. They moved the sessions court at Rouse Avenue on Friday, also challenging the acquittal of former WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar on a criminal intimidation charge. The matter is set to be heard by Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh on Saturday.
The appeal calls the August 3 magistrate order "erroneous and unsustainable in law". Times Now and Mathrubhumi report that the wrestlers argue the evidence was assessed selectively and the court relied on assumptions about survivor behaviour. Mathrubhumi adds that the magistrate's 239-page judgment had cited contradictions, hostile testimonies, and delayed reporting, noting that two complainants said they were pressured into making allegations. The court had ruled the prosecution failed to prove its case.
The case stems from complaints filed during Singh's tenure as WFI chief, which led to major protests by wrestlers at Jantar Mantar in 2023. Singh, a former BJP MP, was acquitted on August 3 after a trial that included 127 hearings. The appeal now moves to the sessions court for review.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Sources uniformly report the wrestlers' challenge but frame the original acquittal differently. Mathrubhumi leads with the magistrate's reasons: contradictions, hostile witnesses, and delayed reporting, portraying the ruling as grounded in evidentiary gaps. Times Now and ABP Live foreground the wrestlers' claim that the court used outdated notions of victim behaviour, casting doubt on the reasoning. Free Press Journal takes a middle path, reporting both the appeal's arguments and the acquittal's cited inconsistencies. The key difference is which side's logic is given more weight. The sessions court's hearing on Saturday will show whether the magistrate's findings hold or the appeal gains ground.
The appeal marks the next legal step in a case that has already seen mass protests and a high-profile trial. The sessions court's decision on the admissibility of the challenge will set the stage for further proceedings.
Coverage: 4 sources, 4 neutral
Sources (4): timesnownews.com (neutral report), english.mathrubhumi.com (neutral report), news.abplive.com (neutral report), freepressjournal.in (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 4 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry.
Updated: this story now draws on 4 sources.
