Fact Check: Old video of WFI president slapping a wrestler shared as new one

WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan is in the midst of a controversy after many wrestlers levelled sexual harassment charges against him

New Delhi, Jan 26: A user on Facebook shared a video of BJP MP and Wrestling Federation of India chief, Brij Bhushan Sharan slapping a wrestler for asking a questions at an event.

The user said that Sharan slapped the wrestler on stage for asking a question over the sexual harassment charges that the wrestling body chief is facing.

"BJP MP and President of Wrestling Federation of India, Brij Bhushan Sharan, who has been accused of sexual harassment, slapping a wrestler on stage for asking questions," read the Facebook post, dated Jan 20, the post read. It was posted on January 20.

A Google Reverse Image of the keyframes led us a report published in The Outlook on December 19 2021. The report carried the same video with the headline, Wrestling Federation Of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh Slaps Wrestler In Public - Watch Video.

The report said that Sharan lost his cool at an event during the Under-15 National Wrestling Championship at the Shaheed Ganpat Rai Indoor Stadium in Ranchi. Sharan who is a BJP MP from Kaiserganj in Uttar Pradesh slapped the wrestler from the state on the stage during the first round of the national championships.

Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, who is also the president of Wrestling Federation of India, was seen hitting the young wrestler twice before he left the stage in Ranchi.#BJP #wrestling pic.twitter.com/MFsXVnY1t0

— Sayantan Chandra (@shonaaton) December 18, 2021

The report said that the wrestler was found to be above 15-years of age and was stopped from taking part in the championship. Sharan got on to the stage and began arguing with Sharan. The WFI president tried to pacify him, but ended up losing his cool and slapped the wrestler in front of everyone.

The wrestler wanted a favour from the president that since he was from UP and also from his centre, he be allowed to compete but the president wants to root out age-related corruption from grassroots level, so he did not let him compete, news agency PTI quoted WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar as saying following the incident in 2021.

We also found an in-house video report of OneIndia published one year back with the title, BJP MP slaps wrestler: Brijbhushan Sharan Singh sparks anger.

Hence it is clear that those sharing the video claiming that the video of Sharan slapping a wrestler is a recent one is false. The video is from December 2021 and has nothing to do with the ongoing controversy against Sharan.