No concrete evidence of sexual harassment found against WFI chief: Sources

It has been learnt that there was noconcrete evidence of sexual harassment found against the Wrestling Federation of India WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who was accused of exploitation by top wrestlers including Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi MalikThe countrys top wrestlers Phogat Malik and Bajrang Punia staged a sitin protest at Delhis Jantar Mantar in January and accused the WFI boss of sexual exploitation and intimidation The wrestlers had demanded that WFI be disbanded and its president be removedThe Sports Ministry had formed a fivemember oversight committee headed by legendary boxer MC Mary Kom on January 23 and asked it to submit its findings in one month Later it extended the deadline by two weeks and also added Babita Phogat to the probe panel as its sixth member on the insistence of the protesting wrestlers The committee submitted its report in the first week of April but the ministry is yet to make its findings public However multiple sources confirmed that the wrestlers could not prove the sexual harassment allegations against the WFI boss after several hearingsThe wrestlers could not prove their sexual harassment allegations During the probe it was alleged that one female physio name withheld was asked by Brij Bhushan to give him massage to treat his back pain last year in Bulgaria during a competition However during the hearing the same physio denied any such happening a source told PTI Instead she revealed that all Brij Bhushan wanted was a pain killer for headache and when she offered one and was accompanied by a female coach at that time the WFI boss even refused to take tablet disprin It was male coach Anil who had actually helped Brij BhushanAlso Read Bajrang Vinesh opt out of training trips amid delay in sexual harassment probe reportThe WFI officials however did not make any official comment when approached It has also been learnt that Vinesh and Sakshi have submitted written affidavits to the IOA probe panel which is investigating into the allegations separately but ended up submitting wrong informationIn her affidavit Vinesh claimed that Brij Bhushan touched her inappropriately in Turkey in 2015 However later it was found that Vinesh had not competed in Turkey that year Later she said it actually happened in 2016 and in Mongolia Sakshi in her affidavit wrote that Brij Bhushan hugged her in 2015 Brij Bhushan sensed her discomfort and said that he hugged her like a father revealed a sourceAccording to another source a few former female wrestlers said that Brij Bhushan asked for their numbers but when asked if he ever called them they replied in the negativeThey said Brij Bhushan clicked pictures with them with his hands on their shoulders but could not produce those pictures when demanded by the panel said the sourceNot only Brij Bhushan but a few coaches also faced allegations One such coach was Greco Roman trainer Mahabir Prasad The Droncharya awardee was asked by the panel why he visited Vineshs home after her debacle in the Tokyo Olympics To which he replied that he wanted to say a few motivating words because he felt that the top wrestler was going through a tough periodVinesh had made a shock first round exit from the Olympics and was later suspended by WFI for indiscipline She had revealed that she was suffering from depression and was struggling badly to cope with the situation Mahabir replied that he was not alone when he paid a visit to Vinesh He was accompanied with a coach and a journalist so there was no question of having any ill will in him meeting Vinesh said a sourceIt has also been learnt that two SAI officials had gone to the Sonepat centre where the training camp for male wrestlers is held to extract adverse statement from the coaches against Brij BhushanWhen an oversight committee was probing the matter what the SAI officials were doing there at Sonepat SAI centre Even a relative of one of members of the committee was also there How did SAI centre allow that relative inside the SAI complex He was not part of the camp said the sourceWith PTI inputs