New Delhi: Leading wrestler Vinesh Phogat got emotional in front of the camera this evening after hearing that a Delhi Police officer had allegedly assaulted several of the protesting group's members. She asked while struggling to contain her tears, "Did we win medals to see this day?
The protesters claimed a "drunk" police officer attacked two wrestlers while his colleagues stood by and did nothing. "That cop was shoving and pushing everyone," Vinesh Phogat alleged.
"We are not criminals that they are behaving like this with us," she added. She also questioned the absence of women police officers at the spot. "I was abused and pushed around by policemen. Where are the women police personnel", she asked.
Bajrang Punia, who holds four medals from the World Wrestling Championships, said in tears: "I request the government to take back all my medals."
The wrestlers, who have been conducting a sit-in at Jantar Mantar since April 23, claimed that the police did not allow them to bring foldable beds after their mattresses had become wet due to the rain.
Following the incident, police detained three people, among them Somnath Bharti of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). According to the police, Mr Bharti had entered the protest site with folding beds without permission.
"On being asked about the beds, his supporters became aggressive and tried to get the beds from a truck. Subsequently, a minor altercation took place following which Bharti, along with two others, was detained," the police said.
After the incident, the police closed up the area around Jantar Mantar, and no one would be permitted to go there to greet the wrestlers or protest, where several opposition leaders were seen there.
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), has been accused of sexual harassment by wrestlers. For allegedly sexually harassing and intimidating seven female wrestlers, including one who is a minor, they have been calling for Brij Bhushan Singh, a BJP member from Uttar Pradesh, to be charged criminally.
He has refuted each and every accusation, claiming that there is no basis for the charges, but he has also stated that he would resign if asked to do so by Prime Minister Narendra Modi or the BJP.
Two FIRs were lodged against him by the Delhi Police on Friday. In response to a complaint from a minor, one of them was registered under the strict Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.