Vinesh Phogat Tries To Meet PM, Stopped By Delhi Police, Leaves Khel Ratna And Arjuna Awards On Kartavya Path

Days after her announcement to return the national awards, Wrestler Vinesh Phogat returned her Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards.

According to the reports, Vinesh Phogat was marching towards the Prime Minister's Office to return the award, when stopped by the Delhi Police midway, so she decided to leave her awards on the Kartavya Path.

Asian Games and Commonwealth Games gold medallist had decided to return prestigious awards following a delay in action against former Wrestling Federation Of Hindi Chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is also a part of the saffron front.

यह दिन किसी खिलाड़ी के जीवन में न आए। देश की महिला पहलवान सबसे बुरे दौर से गुज़र रही हैं। #vineshphogat pic.twitter.com/bT3pQngUuI

— Bajrang Punia 🇮🇳 (@BajrangPunia) December 30, 2023

She had announced to return the awards after writing an open letter to Prime Minister Modi four days ago, to which, no reply was received.

Before Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia had left his national award at Kartvya Path with a letter demanding justice for female wrestlers in the sexual harassment case.

Sakshi Malik also bid adieu to the sport with tears in her eyes after the government deferred to intervene.

India's top wrestlers have been leading a protest for months after several female wrestlers accused Brij Bhushan Singh Sharan of misbehaving and trying to sexually and mentally assault them.

Pinfallkng wrestlers hope, in the recently concluded WFI presidential elections, Sharan's ally Sanjay Singh won the elections in a thumping manner.

However, the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs later suspended the newly-elected body for not obeying the guidelines. The sports ministry noticed that the office of the newly-elected body was being run from the residence of former WFI boss Sharan's residence, which breaks the code of conduct for the federation.

It also came to notice that Sanjay Singh and his committee members rushed to announce the venue for the upcoming U15 and U20 nationals without even discussing the matter formally.

However, later on Friday, the Wrestling Federation of India shifted its office from Brij Bhushan Sharan's residence to a new place.