In January 2023, Indian wrestlers began protesting for investigation into allegations of sexual harassment of female wrestlers by Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh during his tenure as the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). The female wrestler complainants accused Bhushan of groping, touching their breasts and navels without consent, stalking, intimidation, and demanding "sexual favours" in exchange for professional help, all of which led to a "shared sense of fear and trauma" among the women wrestlers. Bhushan has denied all allegations in front of a government appointed committee.
The sit-in protests were organized at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi in January 2023, making the sexual harassment allegations against Bhushan public. After an assurance that the Central Government will form a committee to look into the allegations, the protests were called off in January 2023. The report by the committee was submitted on 5 April 2023 but not made public. The protesters resumed their protest on 23 April 2023, citing inaction by authorities and bias by the committee to favor the accused.
Bhushan belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party, which leads the Central government and hence oversees the Delhi Police, the law enforcement agency in Delhi. Delhi Police had been accused of inaction and refusing to register a first information report (FIR). The FIRs were registered only after Supreme Court's intervention even though Indian Law mandates immediate registration of an FIR for cognizable offences like sexual harassment. Bhushan was booked under the POCSO act in which all offenses qualify as cognizable.
Many organizations and opposition parties have accused the government of trying to protect Bhushan, a member of the ruling party. The protesting wrestlers have accused the government of building pressure on them to withdraw their cases against Bhushan. The prime minister Narendra Modi and the Union home minister Amit Shah have both been criticized by the opposition parties for being silent on the case, and Sakshi Malik, one of the protesting wrestlers, said she is "hurt" due to Modi's silence.
Several politicians extended their support to the protests and visited the protest site. Many leading athletes also voiced their support. Many farm unions extended support to the protests claiming that the wrestlers come from farming communities.
The WFI's term expired in December 2021, but due to the controversies, elections were not held. This delay ultimately led to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) dissolving the WFI's executive body and appointing an ad-hoc committee to oversee its operations in July 2023. The allegations fueled protests and demands for Brij Bhusan’s removal from the post. As a result, the ad-hoc committee decided to conduct repolls on an urgent basis to ensure a transparent and accountable leadership for the WFI.
International sporting bodies United World Wrestling and International Olympic Committee have condemned the manhandling, arrest and temporary detention of the wrestlers on 28 May 2023, and urged the authorities to investigate the allegations against Bhushan failing which Indian athletes would be forced to participate under a neutral flag.
On 25 June 2023, the protesting wrestlers announced they would cease their agitation and expressed their intention to pursue the fight through legal means, rather than through public demonstrations. However, on 24 December 2023, the Union Sports Ministry suspended the newly elected WFI body led by Sanjay Singh citing the WFI's disregard for established policies and procedures.
Background In January 2023, thirty Indian wrestlers, including Olympic medalists, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, Anshu Malik, Bajrang Punia, among others, staged a sit-in accusing Wrestling Federation of India president, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and its coaches of sexually harassing female players for years, demanding to disband WFI. The protests were called off in January 2023 due to the government's promise of creating an oversight committee to investigate the allegations. The protesting wrestlers resumed their protests in April 2023, citing inaction by authorities.
There are seven complainants in the case, including a minor. The FIRs in the case mention allegations against Bhushan and WFI secretary Vinod Tomar. The allegations include demanding sexual favours for professional assistance in at least two cases, at least 15 incidents of sexual harassment which include groping, inappropriate touching by running hands over breasts, navel, buttock and several instances of intimidation including stalking. The incidents spanned from 2012 to 2022 and took place in restaurants, WFI offices, at tournaments (both domestic and international) and at a warm-up. The complainant wrestlers state that the acts by Bhushan have traumatized them. The FIRs mention that the women wrestlers went out only in groups to have food to avoid meeting Bhushan alone. One of the complainants stated that Bhushan threatened her with repercussions in the upcoming tournament trials as she resisted his attempts to make physical contact with her. She further stated she was hugely discriminated during the mentioned trials.
Vinesh Phogat, who has won multiple medals at the World Wrestling Championships, claimed she was "mentally harassed, tortured and threatened to be killed" by Bhushan for complaining against him to Prime Minister Modi and sports minister Anurag Thakur. She was made to face widespread media scrutiny for the same under the guise of missing out on a medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. One of these women wrestlers alleged Bhushan sent goons to threaten her family and said they will face "dire consequences" if she told anyone. Another wrestler stated she informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi in person about the alleged harassment, after which he reassured her that the sports ministry will handle the matter.
On 18 May 2023, the accused Bhushan also stated that the wrestlers' Olympic medals were worth ₹15.
Bhushan repeatedly denied the allegations (claiming he would hang himself if a single one was proven) and refused to resign from his post as WFI president. Throughout the protests, he tried to paint those involved as a vocal minority, stating that "90% of players in Haryana support[ed] him" and that the "Tukde Tukde Gang" was behind it all. Bhushan also stated that he would force the government to change the POCSO Act, claiming it, among other laws, were being misused.
Initial investigation The oversight committee, led by Mary Kom, was formed on 23 January 2023. The committee submitted its report to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on 5 April after questioning Bhushan and other witnesses. Babita Phogat, member of the oversight committee, alleged that the witnesses' statements were not cross-verified and the objections by her were not included in the report. The findings of the report are not yet made public, but according to Press Trust of India, the report gave a clean chit to the accused Bhushan.
The government-led oversight committee found that the WFI did not have any Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) as mandated by the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act 2013 to address sexual harassment complaints. The Sexual Harassment Committee which did exist had four men and one woman, violating Indian law requiring all the ICC to be led by a woman and more than half the committee members should be women. The protesting wrestlers allege the government-appointed committee of asking for audio and video proof of sexual harassment incidents. In the FIR, complainants have alleged that the video recordings of their deposition were tampered with to protect Bhushan. The complainants also said that the committee tried to justify the actions of Bhushan and had already decided to act on Singh's instructions to give him a clean chit.
On June 7 2023, the father of a minor wrestler who had filed a complaint under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against Singh informed a Delhi magistrate that the allegations were false. According to the revised statement, the complaint was made in a moment of frustration after the minor was not selected for the Under-17 Asian Championship trials, after losing in the finals of the trial. The father stated that he had no personal grievance against Singh and that their decision to file the complaint stemmed from a sense of injustice in the selection process. He also cited emotional distress and pressure related to his daughter’s wrestling career as contributing factors.
Following this, the Delhi Police filed a cancellation report on June 15, 2023, citing lack of evidence. The 550-page report included statements from over 20 witnesses, as well as analysis of call records, photographs, and video footage from various wrestling events. The police concluded that the alleged incident did not take place. On May 26 2025, a Delhi court accepted the cancellation report and formally closed the POCSO case against Singh.
Protest overview
FIR registration and Supreme court intervention The wrestlers resumed protests in April 2023 at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi demanding the arrest of Bhushan and that the report by the government-appointed committee be made public, claiming that nothing has been done to resolve their issues. Separate police complaints were filed by seven wrestlers against Bhushan but Delhi police did not register an FIR.
When FIR was not filed by the Delhi police, the complainants approached the Supreme Court of India. Before the case could be heard, Kapil Sibal, appearing for the wrestlers said the FIR has not been registered as Bhushan is from the ruling party while Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Delhi Police, sought time for an enquiry against Bhushan but by the day of the hearing, submitted before the court that Delhi Police has decided to register the FIR. The court rejected the plea for appointment of a retired judge for oversight of the investigations. Two FIRs, one under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO Act) and the other for outraging modesty, were filed against Bhushan by the Delhi Police on 28 April after the hearing. Offences under the POCSO act are cognizable, non-bailable and require immediate arrests without a court warrant but the police did not arrest Bhushan which had led to accusations of unequal application of law by many. In addition to POCSO act, the FIRs include IPC sections 354 (assault with intent to outrage woman's modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking) and 34 (common intention) on Bhushan.
Wrestlers alleged that the government cut off electricity, water and food supplies at the protest site. Delhi Police also detained Delhi University students for supporting the protests.
Jantar Mantar clash