Neeraj Chopra, an Olympic gold medallist, has spoken out about the way wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik were treated during a protest in Delhi. The trio had been protesting for several weeks, demanding the removal of the Wrestling Federation chief for allegedly sexually harassing female wrestlers. On Sunday, the wrestlers breached security to move towards the new Parliament building for a women’s “Mahapanchayat”. However, they were manhandled by police and detained. Sakshi Malik tweeted that their movement was not over and they would continue their Satyagraha back at Jantar Mantar.
Neeraj Chopra retweeted a video of the incident and wrote that it pained him a lot. He added that there has to be a better way to deal with the situation. Several other wrestlers were also detained as they attempted to march to the new parliament building.
The protestors had been calling for the removal of the Wrestling Federation (WFI) chief Brij Bhusan Charan Singh for allegedly sexually harassing female wrestlers. The incident has sparked outrage and calls for better treatment of protestors.
