Delhi: Thousands march to support wrestlers

Satyawart Kadian, Vinesh Phogat, Sangita Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia at their candlelight protest. Pic/PTI

The protesting wrestlers on Tuesday decided that the scheduled mahapanchayat outside the new Parliament building on May 28 will be held under the leadership of women and youth, and any big decision on the future course of action will henceforth be taken by them.

On Tuesday, thousands of supporters of the wrestlers marched from Jantar Mantar to India Gate under extremely heavy security and raised slogans demanding the arrest of former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Also Read: Delhi police record statement of WFI chief

The protesting grapplers, including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and Asian Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat, have been demanding Brij Bhushan's arrest alleging that he has sexually harassed several women wrestlers, including a minor.

The supporters braved extreme heat and the late-evening dust storm as they marched towards India Gate peacefully in unprecedented numbers, which could have led to a stampede but fortunately no untoward incident occurred.

Waving hundreds of tricolours, the supporters, who had arrived from bordering states, echoed the same sentiments as the aggrieved wrestlers and demanded the strictest of punishments for Brij Bhushan.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever