Hugging a woman without having sexual intentions is not a crime, the outgoing WFI chief tells the court

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the outgoing president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and a BJP member, testified before a Delhi court on Wednesday that embracing or otherwise touching a lady without any sexual motive is not illegal.

Through his attorney, Singh submitted the arguments before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal in opposition to the establishment of charges against him.

On Wednesday, the court began hearing arguments over whether or not to prosecute Singh and co-accused WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar.

Singh’s attorney, Rajiv Mohan, further informed the court that the accusations were time-barred.

“These purely aesthetic grounds won’t support that I (the plaintiff) was in danger. It is hardly a credible reason to claim that you were threatened if you are traveling freely and have been silent for five years, the complainant stated.

The attorney continued by saying that since the “offenses are alleged to have been committed outside India,” the court lacked the authority to hear the case.

“If we consider these charges, just three of them fall within Indian jurisdiction. Due to a lack of legal authority, the court cannot try offenses committed outside of India. There are two crimes connected to Siri Fort and Ashoka Road. The sole offense at Siri Fort is cuddling… It is not illegal to touch a lady without using force or with sexual intent, he said.

“Wrestling is such an event, and coaches are typically men,” Mohan said. Women who coach are uncommon. Hugging a player in celebration after a success by a coach cannot be considered an offense. When a male coach embraces a player out of worry, it’s not considered inappropriate. On Thursday, the court will continue to hear the case.

On July 20, the metropolitan court granted Singh and Tomar release on a bond of Rs 25,000 each, with the caveat that they were not to leave the country without the court’s prior approval and were not to give any inducements to witnesses.

The six-time MP was charged by the Delhi Police on June 15 with violating the Indian Penal Code’s sections 354 (attack or criminal force on a woman with the purpose to violate her modesty), 354-A (sexual harassment), 354-D (stalking), and 506 (criminal intimidation).