'Absence' of panel in federations to address sexual harassment charges; sports ministry given NHRC notice
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New Delhi: In response to allegations that the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and four other organisations lack an internal complaints body to handle sexual harassment claims, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) sent a notice to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on Thursday, a senior official said. The Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the WFI and several other national sports federations have also received notices from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in response to reports that they either do not even have an ICC or an ICC that is not operating as it should under the law.
The notices come at a time when several wrestlers are protesting at Jantar Mantar here demanding the sacking and arrest of WFI president and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over charges of sexual harassment of women grapplers.
The NHRC has taken "suo motu cognisance of a media report that there is no Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) as mandated by the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act, 2013".
"Reportedly, the wrestling body is not the only one not having a duly constituted ICC. In addition to it, there are as many as 15 of the 30 national sports federations who do not meet this mandatory requirement," it said.
With PTI inputs