NEW DELHI
\nIndian police said Thursday they had charged the country\u2019s wrestling federation president with sexual harassment and stalking, following a protest by the sport\u2019s top figures demanding his arrest.
\nIn April, a group of wrestlers began a sit-in in the capital New Delhi to demand the arrest of Brij Bhushan Singh, who is also a lawmaker for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
\nSingh was accused by Olympic medallists and other Indian wrestling champions of groping female athletes and demanding sexual favours. Delhi Police said in a statement that \u201cafter completion of investigation\u201d they charged Singh with sexual harassment and stalking under the Indian Penal Code.
\nVinod Tomar, a Singh acolyte who served as assistant secretary for the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), faced the same charges as well as criminal intimidation and abetment. But police said one of the accusations against Singh lodged by a minor had been withdrawn.
\nPublic prosecutor Atul Shrivastava confirmed that the charges had been filed. The wrestlers could not immediately be reached for comment.
\nSingh, serving his sixth term as a lawmaker from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, has headed the wrestling federation for over a decade.
\nAlso read: Top Indian wrestler accuses government of silence over sexual harassment probe
\nHe has denied the allegations of sexual harassment and intimidation, and claimed to be the victim of a \u201cconspiracy\u201d to force him out of parliament.
\nThe weeks-long demonstration by India\u2019s top wrestlers, including two-time world champion medallist Vinesh Phogat and Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, attracted a groundswell of public sympathy.
\nThey grew in size from a few dozen to crowds sometimes of thousands. Olympic gold medallists, including javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra, lent their support to their fellow athletes.
\nIn May, the protesters attempted to march to India\u2019s new parliament just as it was being inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but were dragged away and detained by police officers. At one point, Malik and Phogat had threatened to throw their international medals into the Ganges River unless police took action.
\nAuthorities opened an investigation into the accusations against Singh after being asked by the Supreme Court to account for the slow pace of progress.
\nThe wrestlers decided to pause the sit-in after the government promised to investigate the sexual harassment claims, giving itself a Thursday deadline to respond to the protesters\u2019 demands. It also promised to stage new elections for the WFI and prohibit Singh or members of his family from contesting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI Indian police said Thursday they had charged the country\u2019s wrestling federation president with sexual harassment and stalking, following a protest by the sport\u2019s top figures demanding his arrest. In April, a group of wrestlers began a sit-in in the capital New Delhi to demand the arrest of Brij Bhushan Singh, who is also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-338200","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n