Sexual harassment case: Ex-WFI chief pleads 'not guilty', court frames charges

New Delhi, May 21: A Delhi court on Tuesday formally framed charges related to sexual harassment and intimidation against Wrestling Federation of India's (WFI) former President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a case filed by female wrestlers.

After the BJP leader pleaded not guilty to the allegations, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Priyanka Rajpoot of the Rouse Avenue court ordered the framing of charges under relevant sections for sexual harassment, using force to outrage women’s modesty, and criminal intimidation against him.

Claiming a trial, Singh said: "Why will I plead guilty when I am not guilty?"

Many female wrestlers led by Olympians Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat had conducted protests for months against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the sitting MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaiserganj, has not been renominated by the BJP, which had, instead, given a ticket to his son Karan Bhushan Singh.