Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday met top Indian wrestlers who have accused the chief of the sport’s governing body and its coaches of sexually harassing female players.
Several athletes, including Olympic bronze medal winners Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia and Commonwealth Games gold medal winner Vinesh Phogat, started a sit-in protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Wednesday.
The meeting with the sports minister on Thursday remained inconclusive as the wrestlers threatened to step up the protest if their demands of disbanding the Wrestling Federation of India and an investigation against the body’s chief, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, are not met, PTI reported.
Singh, who is also a Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaiserganj, has denied the allegations against him. But the athletes have insisted that they know at least 10-12 women who have been sexually harassed by Singh.
On Thursday night, the protesting wrestlers led by Phogat and Punia met Thakur at his home and sought speedy action. The sports minister told them to wait for an official response to the allegations from the Wrestling Federation of India that his ministry has sought, NDTV reported.
Delhi | Babita Phogat, Sakshee Malikkh, Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and other wrestlers arrive at the residence of Union Sports Minister Anurag…
