Indian court acquits wrestling body ex-chief in sexual harassment case

An Indian court acquitted former wrestling federation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment charges, sparking protests from hundreds of wrestlers and supporters of the victims.

An Indian court on Monday acquitted the ‌former chief of India's wrestling federation in a sexual harassment case lodged by female wrestlers, local media reported, three years after the allegations triggered months-long protests demanding criminal action against him. The court had ‌in 2024 laid charges against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment of five female ‌wrestlers and the crime of outraging their modesty.

“I had complete faith that justice would be done ... justice was done," Singh told reporters after the court announced its verdict. "I never considered myself a criminal at all.” Visuals from news agency ⁠ANI, in ​which Reuters has a ⁠minority stake, showed people garlanding Singh, feeding him traditional Indian sweets and giving him bouquets after the verdict.

HUNDREDS PROTEST ⁠DEMANDING ACTION Indian Olympic wrestling star Vinesh Phogat, and Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, were among the ​hundreds who staged a sit-in demonstration in New Delhi in 2023 demanding action against ⁠Singh.

Punia also returned one of India's highest civilian awards while Malik retired from the sport in protest. The women wrestlers had ⁠instructed ​their lawyer to appeal against the verdict, and the process would begin "as soon as possible", Phogat said on X.

"We have not lost hope, and the wrestlers will continue their fight," ⁠she said. Singh was also a senior lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) when ⁠the allegations against him ⁠first surfaced. He completed his term in 2024 and was not renominated.

The BJP, instead, fielded his son for the same constituency, where he won ‌and is now ‌a lawmaker.