New Delhi (India), 10/05/2023.- Indian wrestlers Bajrang Punia (C), Vinesh Phogat (L) and Sakshi Malik (R) speak to the media as they attend a sit-in protest against India's wrestling federation chief Brij Bhushan, in New Delhi, India, 10 May 2023. Protesting wrestlers demanded the arrest of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan over sexual harassment allegations. (Protestas, Nueva Delhi) EFE/EPA/RAJAT GUPTA

New Delhi (India), 10/05/2023.- Indian wrestlers Bajrang Punia (C), Vinesh Phogat (L) and Sakshi Malik (R) speak to the media as they attend a sit-in protest against India's wrestling federation chief Brij Bhushan, in New Delhi, India, 10 May 2023. Protesting wrestlers demanded the arrest of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan over sexual harassment allegations. (Protestas, Nueva Delhi) EFE/EPA/RAJAT GUPTA

Elite wrestlers in India return trophies, quit sport amid abuse allegations

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New Delhi, Dec 22 (EFE).- One of India’s top Olympic wrestlers announced Friday that he is returning an award he was given by the Indian government in protest at alleged sexual abuse by wrestling authorities against female athletes.

Bajrang Punia, a bronze medalist at Tokyo 2020, is the latest leading Indian wrestler to quit the mat in protest at the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) leadership remaining in place despite allegations of sexual abuse.

“I am returning my Padma Shree award (one of the highest honors given to civilians) to the prime minister,” Punia said on X (formerly Twitter) accompanying a copy of the letter addressed to Narendra Modi.

Punia is one of the visible faces of the protests that began in January over alleged sexual abuse within the WFI.

According to the elite wrestlers, several women were sexually harassed by the former head of the organization and member of parliament for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Brijbhushan Sharan Singh.

“When I got this award, I was very happy. I felt my life was fulfilled. But today I feel sad about this honor, it bothers me because I was awarded for wrestling and today women wrestlers are forced to leave the sport for their own safety,” Punia said.

The elite sportsman said he was “disgusted” at being presented at events as a Padma Shree winner, while the complainants “have been cheated out of a decent life.”

Punia’s statement comes a day after Rio 2016 bronze medalist Sakshi Malik tearfully announced she was quitting the sport.

The wrestlers are protesting after Sanjay Singh, who is close to the federation’s former president, won the majority of votes for the federation’s presidency this week in polls that had been delayed for months.

Allegations of sexual abuse from female wrestlers within the WFI began in January and the complainants, frustrated by the authorities’ initial inaction and the police delay in filing charges against the former chief, camped out for nearly a month in New Delhi.

Malik, Punia and dozens of other athletes were forcibly removed from the protest, resulting in dramatic images of wrestlers who had successfully represented their country at the Olympics being dragged away by police. EFE

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