NEW DELHI: One of the key evidences placed by Delhi Police in the chargesheet against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is a photograph showing him standing closely to a wrestler while posing for a photograph. Singh is seen holding the hand of the wrestler and smiling.
There are others also in the photograph, which was taken in a public place, and sources said it was during an event at the Siri Fort auditorium. This, along with some other photographs, was apparently the evidence that prompted Delhi Police to file a chargesheet against Singh.
According to the chargesheet, the wrestler in the photograph has mentioned six instances when, she claimed, she was molested by Singh. The wrestler claimed that she had objected to Singh's posture and proximity.
The chargesheet states that based on the "investigation conducted so far on the complaints by six wrestlers, Singh was liable to be prosecuted and punished for offences of sexual harassment, molestation and stalking".
Among the list of witnesses, two wrestlers have corroborated the allegations. They have said in their statement that they had witnessed the "wrong physical gesture" made by the former WFI president. Around 21 witnesses have given their statements against Singh, six of them before a magistrate under 164 CrPC. Six of the witnesses are wrestlers, five relatives of the survivors, four co-wrestlers, two coaches and two referees, sources said.
Besides charging Singh with the offences of molestation, stalking and sexual harassment last month, police have also charged Singh's associate and suspended WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar for similar offences besides for abetment and criminal intimidation.
While police have filed a single FIR after clubbing the six complaints, their chargesheet has detailed the probe and evidence in each case separately, sources said. The chargesheet has been filed on the basis of corroborative statements and some photographs, besides some technical evidence in one or two cases.
Singh has been charged for allegedly sexually harassing all six complainants, the offence of stalking pertains to only one complainant, and molestation charges have been levied on the complaint of two women wrestlers.