– Allegations of sexual abuse in the world of wrestling in India and a protest that entered its second day this Thursday, led by some of the most prominent wrestlers in that discipline, have sparked a #MeToo movement in the world of sports .
“Yesterday we said that there were a couple of girls, today we have five or six young fighters who have suffered this type of abuse, and they can prove it,” Bajrang Punia, a bronze medalist at Tokyo 2020, told the media.
ALLEGED SEXUAL ABUSE FOR YEARS
Around a hundred fighters gathered again this Thursday at the Jantar Mantar “manifestodrome”, the street in New Delhi where all the fights in the Asian country end, for the second consecutive day since a group of elite athletes denounced the sexual abuse that women in the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) have allegedly suffered for years.
The accusations target the president of the federation, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politician Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, whom Vinesh Phogat, winner of gold medals at the British Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, accused. directly accused.
But sexual abuse also decreased, Phogat said yesterday, to coaches kept in their posts despite the fact that the federation was aware of their practices.
The explosive statements, delivered by well-known athletes and treated as nation’s heroes for their arena victories, have garnered Indian media attention.
The Ministry of Sports of the Asian country yesterday demanded explanations “in the next 72 hours” from the wrestling federation, according to a statement. If there is no response, the authorities will take “appropriate measures”.
ATHLETES DEMAND MEASURES
A reaction that is not enough for the athletes, who this Thursday held a meeting with government representatives from which they left disappointed but willing to continue fighting.
“The government has not promised any concrete action, it has only given guarantees, so we are not happy with the response,” summarized Sakshi Malik, a bronze medalist in Rio.
Protesters are demanding Singh’s resignation, and Phogat has indicated that they will “make sure” he is jailed.
The athletes’ complaints go beyond accusations of sexual abuse, they also cover deficiencies in the way the federation is managed and the lack of means, in protests promoted by a new generation of fighters who inspire the youngest.
«I used to be a fighter, and all these things used to happen before too. But the fighters could not speak or be heard, because there were no social networks. In addition, the wrestlers today have studies, they have won many medals (…) and when they saw all these abuses they could not bear it,” Pradeep Chaudhary reflected to EFE.
The former professional wrestler, a champion from the northern state of Haryana turned lawyer, expressed his hope that “the culprits will be punished.”
For his part, the president of the federation maintained his innocence yesterday during a press conference in which he criticized the fact that the athletes had not provided names of the alleged victims.
The #MeToo movement rose to prominence following the 2017 revelation of the Harvey Weinstein scandals in the United States, and gained traction in India in 2018 with allegations of sexual abuse on social media that initially focused on Bollywood and then spread to more fields such as the world of journalism or the judiciary.
Source: EFE
