She's keeping herself locked, we fear for our lives: Minor wrestler's father

Tribune News Service

Karam Prakash

New Delhi, June 10

The father of the “minor” wrestler, one of the seven women grapplers who had filed a complaint of sexual harassment against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, has said his daughter had slipped into depression and was continuously keeping herself locked inside a room. Talking to The Tribune over the phone, he alleged that he himself was under tremendous pressure, and that his family’s life had changed for the worse after the news of the complaint broke out. He said he feared for own and his family’s safety.

Asked under whose “pressure” he was, he said he had “all the proof, which he would be submitted in the court at the right time”. “My wife, daughter and I have been traumatised. Despite the Supreme Court’s directions, my daughter’s identity has been revealed despite her being a minor. Nobody has been penalised for this yet,” he said.

Refuting reports that they had withdrawn their complaint, he maintained his daughter had only recorded her statement afresh in the court on June 5. “I am really scared after the May 28 incident (when the wrestlers were forcibly detained during a march to new Parliament building). Anything can happen. Who will care for my wife and daughter if something happens to me? Even my parents and brother have deserted three of us,” he said.

The father of the “minor” wrestler — her uncle had alleged she was a major —had filed the police complaint in April, following which the WFI chief was booked under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act. The crimes and cases under this Act are non-bailable in nature. He refuted as “sheer lies” reports mentioning his daughter wasn’t a minor.

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