Picture Credit: Twitter
Vinesh Phogat, the first-ever Indian women to win gold medals in wrestling at the Commonwealth and Asian Games, is recently embroiled in a perilous life situation as she battles against the Chief of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, in a sexual harassment case. Earlier on April 29 (Saturday), she was involved in a heated battle on social media with her cousin Babita Phogat, asking her to not weaken the ongoing protest organised at Jantar Mantar, Delhi by the wrestlers.
Meanwhile, just a day prior, Delhi Police had registered two FIRs in relation to the sexual harassment allegations on WFI Chief, levelled by women’s wrestlers including Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, among others.
The 28-year-old Vinesh took to Twitter and wrote, “If you are not standing for the rights of aggrieved female wrestlers, Babita sister, I request you with folded hands not to weaken our movement. It has taken years for female wrestlers to speak up against their abusers. You are also a woman, try to understand our pain.”
This tweet from Vinesh Phogat was in response to an earlier post on Twitter made by Babita Phogat, regarding the visit from one of the leaders of the Congress Party, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to Jantar Mantar, the site of the protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. She had tweeted, “Priyanka Vadra reached Jantar Mantar with her personal secretary Sandeep Singh to seek justice for women wrestlers, but this person himself has been accused of misbehaving women and insulting a Dalit woman.”
Coincidentally, Babita Phogat was one of the six members in the Oversight Committee, who enquired the sexual harassment allegations on Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. They had submitted their report to the Sports Ministry about the matter earlier this month, but its findings are yet to be disclosed in public.
