Outgoing Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Wednesday told a Delhi court that hugging or touching a woman without sexual intent is not an offence, PTI reported.
He made the submission before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal, who was hearing arguments on framing of charges against him in a sexual harassment case.
“Wrestling is such an event, mostly coaches are men,” Rajiv Mohan, the lawyer representing Singh, told the court. “Women coaches are rare. If a coach, out of joy, after an achievement, is hugging a player, it can’t fall under the category of offence.”
Mohan referred to an allegation that Singh sexually harassed a female wrestler at Delhi’s Siri Fort. He said that his client had made no sexual advances and the incident only involved hugging, The Indian Express reported.
The lawyer also questioned the alleged delay on the part of the complainants in coming forward with their allegations. “If you [complainants] are moving freely and for five years you did not come forward and then saying that you were under threat is not a valid explanation,” he said.
Further, Mohan argued that some cases were alleged to have taken place outside the jurisdiction of the Delhi court. Some allegations also pertain to incidents that are said…
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