Wrestling - For Justice

It is a defining moment for India's sportswomen as some of its star wrestlers grapple with prejudice and patriarchy to bring WFI president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to book for alleged sexual offences

- SONALI ACHARJEE , SUHANI SINGH

TIME CAN GRIND DOWN EVEN THE STRONGEST. Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and Asian Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat might have trained to be fighters nearly all their lives but, on May 30, standing on the banks of the Ganga at Har ki pauri in Haridwar, for the first time, the fight went out of them. Shielded by a human chain of family members and friends, they wept, clutching a bounty of hardearned medals-two Olympic, six World Championship and four Asian Games between the three their "life and soul", as they called them.

They intended to immerse them in the holy river. Only two days ago, they had been pulled off the streets of New Delhi, manhandled by Delhi Police and now had FIRS lodged against them for assaulting women police officers. "How did this happen?" Vinesh, who was world No.1 in her category in 2021, was heard asking repeatedly at Haridwar. The 28-year-old couldn't fathom how a protest to bring sexual harassment charges against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is also the BJP MP from Kaiserganj, Uttar Pradesh, had ended with charges of assault against her.