Former Indian wrestler Sakshi Malik revealed that she had faced sexual harassment at the hands of former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh back in the year 2012.
Sakshi was one of three wrestlers along with Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia who spearheaded the wrestlers’ protest at Jantar Mantar against Brij Bhushan.
The 32-year-old grappler released her memoir titled ‘Witness’, in which she opened up about the unpleasantness she had to endure while breaking onto the scene all those years ago.
“I wanted to write a book for a long time, especially after the Olympics. I wanted my story to be told. I wanted it to inspire and inform many girls because of my struggles. I wanted everyone to know,” she said.
“After the protests, I decided this, and after a few days, I started hearing things about seniors. People said things like, ‘This is the man,’ and ‘He’s like that.’ In 2012, I had an accident when then-president Brij Bhushan Singh harassed me. I knew that this was wrong and I said straightforward no to it, I have also told the story in my book, that time was really difficult for me,” said Sakshi.
“If I had raised my voice at that time, I wouldn’t be sitting here as an Olympic medalist today. My career would have ended right there. So, I thought it was better to stay quiet and continue without paying attention to that,” she continued.
“After my husband’s situation, it was difficult. The next 3-4 years were tough because training among those same people, competing in trials, and then going for international competitions was challenging,” she added.
She added that she opted to come out with the revelation so as to propel the fight against such untoward activities in the sport and to ensure that the younger generation does not have to go through the hardships she was forced to endure.
“It was all very difficult, and that’s why I decided that I needed to fight for this. The things I faced, the struggles I went through, I didn’t want the next generation of girls to face them. A lot of girls get scared and are unable to continue playing. That’s why I decided to take a stand. I did well in my fights too.”
Sakshi also added that the protest was against Brij Bhushan as an individual and not in defiance of the political party he belongs to.
“The protest that we led was never against Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), it was all against Brij Bhushan Singh, who is the main accused. Yes, PM Modi supported us, but we want to highlight more issues to him, so those who are saying that the protest was targeted for personal benefit should read my book first,” she clarified.
