Haryana's young female grapplers pin hope on Phogat for safety, return to akhadas
Jind/Sonipat (PTI): Several young female wrestlers in Haryana, especially those rethinking their career paths in the wake of accusations of sexual misconduct against the former WFI chief, are rooting for Vinesh Phogat to become the sports minister in the hope that it would facilitate their return to the akhadas.
The wrestling arenas or akhadas were once abuzz with activity with young girls and boys training with a common goal -- medals at big events followed by government jobs.
However, things changed after the January 2023 protests by top wrestlers, including Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia, demanding the resignation of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for allegedly harassing junior women wrestlers.
The akhadas have since witnessed a spurt in dropouts among the young female grapplers.
"I did not come here for five months after the protests began as my parents didn't allow me to continue training," said a young woman wrestler training at the Yudhvir Akhada in Sonipat, the biggest arena in the district for girls.
"I have somehow convinced them to resume training but now my father accompanies me and waits till I am here," said the wrestler requesting anonymity.
"We hope that when Vinesh Phogat gets elected, she is made the sports minister because she understands the challenges that women wrestlers face," she told PTI.
At the Meher Singh Akhada in Rohtak, there has been a significant drop in the number of young grapplers coming for training.
Mohit Malik, the owner of the akhada, said Phogat's performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she missed out on a gold medal, will motivate parents sceptical about sending their daughters to akhadas.
"Vinesh's Olympic performance is expected to change things and give strength to those families who have been uncertain about sending their daughters to akhadas.
"There is unemployment in the state and one way to secure a government job is through sports, that is what the common people believe. The funding for akhadas also comes from local residents or individuals and there is very limited government support," he said.
While Phogat is not the candidate contesting from his constituency, Malik said she has his support, along with that of several wrestlers and coaches at akhadas across the state.
"We need someone from amongst us to be able to be our voice in the Vidhan Sabha," he said.
The Olympian wrestler, however, has asserted that she doesn't want Julana to be known only because of her.
"People are saying that Julana is now famous because I am contesting. I want Julana to be known for employment, for wrestling, and not for Vinesh," she said during a public meeting in Siwaha village in Jind.
Phogat, who was born in Charkhi Dadri, joined the Congress after returning from the Paris Olympics, after being disqualified from the women's 50kg freestyle wrestling final for being 100 grams overweight.
She defeated four-time wrestling world champion Yui Susaki of Japan, to enter the quarter-finals of the Olympics.
The Dada Shyam Akhada in Jhajjar is also betting on Phogat's win in the upcoming elections.
"She has already set a benchmark for women wrestlers. We are hopeful that when she is elected, she will set an example for other politicians by standing up for her own community and wrestlers," said Virender Bhuria from Dada Shyam Akhada.
Phogat has been canvassing extensively in her constituency and is visiting different akhadas to seek their support.
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party's Kavita Dalal, who is the first woman wrestler to compete in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), is taking on Phogat from Julana.
Dalal won a gold medal in the 2016 South Asian Games and represented India in weightlifting before transitioning to professional wrestling. She was with the WWE from 2017 to 2021.
The BJP has fielded Yogesh Bairagi, a former Indian Army Captain and a commercial pilot, from the seat.
Phogat is not the first woman wrestler from the state to join politics and contest elections. Her cousin Babita Phogat had unsuccessfully contested assembly polls in 2019 from Charkhi Dadri.
The Haryana assembly polls are slated to be held on October 5 and the votes will be counted on October 8.
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Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
