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A Delhi court has ordered the framing of charges against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a case where he has been accused of sexual harassment by six women wrestlers.
The Court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Priyanka Rajpoot stated that there was sufficient material to frame charges against Bhushan in the offences of outraging the modesty of a woman and sexual harassment (sections 354 and 354A of the IPC) against five of the victims.
The court noted that it has found sufficient material against Bhushan for offences under section 506(1) (criminal intimidation) in the allegations of two victims – number 1 and 5.
For Vinod Tomar, former WFI assistant secretary who is the second accused in the case, the Court noted that there was sufficient material to frame charges against him for criminal intimidation in relation to the allegations of one victim.
The Delhi Police in June last year had filed a chargesheet against Bhushan for alleged sexual harassment, assault and stalking of six women wrestlers.
The chargesheet was filed against Bhushan and Tomar under sections 354 (assault or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking), 109 (abetment) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.
The police had also earlier filed a 550-page report in the Patiala House Courts, requesting cancellation of the POCSO (Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences) Act case against Singh after a wrestler, who was a minor at the time of the alleged incident, and her father, the complainant, withdrew their allegations against Singh in a fresh statement before a magistrate.
Source: Delhi court orders framing of charges of sexual harassment, intimidation against Brij Bhushan