It's time for some hard calls, indicate wrestlers

The charges do not warrant immediate arrest of Singh, a key demand made by the protesting wrestlers

- Shantanu Srivastava

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police charge sheet against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and his aide and former WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar is disappointing and may force the wrestlers to take some hard calls in the next couple of days, one of the protesting wrestlers said on Thursday.

Singh was charged under sections 354 (assault or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty), 354A (sexual harassment) and 354D (stalking) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Tomar was charged under IPC sections 109 (abetment), 354, 354A, and 506 (criminal intimidation). None of the sections warranted the immediate arrest of Singh, a key demand of the protesting wrestlers. "We may have to take some hard calls in a day or two. For now, we have decided to put our protest on hold," Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik told HT.

Later, speaking to ANI, she said, "The charge sheet clearly states that Singh is guilty but our lawyer has filed an application so that he gets his hands on the chargesheet at the earliest and we can find out the charges. After that, we will see whether those charges are correct or not. Our next step would come once we see everything - whether the promises that were made are being fulfilled or not. We are waiting."

A second protesting wrestler said they wanted to read the 1,082-page charge sheet first.