Oversight Committee Gets 2 More Weeks to Complete Probe into Sexual Harassment Allegations against WFI Chief

The Sports Ministry has extended by two weeks the deadline given to the Oversight Committee to submit its report on sexual harassment allegations against WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

The Committee, led by legendary boxer MC Mary Kom, was formed on January 23 to investigate into the claims made by country’s top wrestlers that Brij Bhushan has sexually harassed several women wrestlers and intimidates the athletes.

The wrestlers had not provided the names of the ‘victims’.

The committee, which is running the day-to-day functioning of the sports body, was asked to submits its report in four weeks.

The ministry extended the deadline following requests from the committee members and now it will submit its report by March 9.

“The Ministry Of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has extended the term of the Oversight Committee for Wrestling by two weeks for submission of the report pertaining to the complaint filed by a group of wrestlers against the Wrestling Federation of India. The extension has been granted on request from the Oversight Committee,” the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

“The extension also applies to other functions assigned to the committee which include day-to-day administration of WFI, during the course of the inquiry,” the statement said.

The ministry was forced to form the panel after top Indian wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Ravi Dahiya and Sakshi Malik, staged a sit-in protest at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, demanding that Brij Bhushan be removed from the top post and WFI be disbanned.

The BJP MP was asked to step aside till the completion of the probe into his alleged misconduct.

The Mary Kom-led committee has former wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, former shuttler Trupti Murgunde, SAI member Radhica Sreeman and Rajesh Rajagopalan, ex-CEO, Target Olympic Podium Scheme and CWG gold medallist Babita Phogat as its members.

Since the formation of the committee, the top Indian wrestlers have not competed at the international meets, missing the UWW Ranking Series events in Zagreb and Alexandria.

UWW, the world governing body of the sport, has reportedly taken away the hosting rights of the Asian Championship from India, citing a complaint from the top wrestlers.

(With inputs from Agencies)