India's wrestlers take fight from sit-ins to court

Top athletes say govt has fulfilled promise to file sexual harassment charges against federation president

NEW DELHI:

Top Indian wrestlers who have accused their federation president of sexual harassment said they will rely on legal challenges rather than return to protests, local media reported on Monday.

Olympic medallists and other Indian wrestling champions supported a weeks-long sit-in in New Delhi, accusing federation chief Brij Bhushan Singh of groping women athletes and demanding sexual favours.

Singh is also a powerful lawmaker for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Police charged him on June 15 with sexual harassment and stalking, accusations Singh denies.

"The wrestlers' fight will continue in court and not on the road till we get justice," three wrestlers, including world championship bronze medallist Vinesh Phogat and Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, wrote on social media on Sunday.

Wrestling is hugely popular in rural northern India and images of star athletes being detained as they tried to march to parliament in May went viral on social media.

The government has said Singh will have no role to play as part of a shake-up in the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), with elections expected in July.

According to The Times of India, the wrestlers said the government had fulfilled its promise to file charges against Singh.

"Regarding the reform in WFI, the election process, as promised, has begun," the wrestlers said in a widely reported joint message.

Singh, 66, is serving his sixth term as a lawmaker from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and has headed the wrestling federation for more than a decade.

The political strongman has denied the allegations and says he is the victim of a "conspiracy" to force him out of parliament.