‘POCSO, immediate arrest doesn’t apply to Brij Bhushan?’

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee participates in a rally in support of protesting wrestlers, in Kolkata, on Wednesday. Pic/PTI

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Wednesday slammed the government over the issue of allegations of sexual harassment levelled by women wrestlers against WFI president Brij Bhushan Singh, and asked whether POCSO and immediate arrest apply to all accused other than Singh because he belongs to the BJP.

In a tweet, Sibal said, "Brij Bhushan Singh: Does application of POCSO and immediate arrest after 164 statements apply to all accused other than Brij Bhushan because he: 1) Belongs to BJP 2) iconic women wrestlers don't matter; votes matter! 3) Government doesn't care. "Is this my new India," Sibal asked.

The attack by Sibal, a senior advocate who represented the protesting wrestlers in the Supreme Court, came a day after the matter escalated as the wrestlers reached Haridwar to immerse their World and Olympic medals in the holy Ganga, but were stopped by farmer leaders. BKU leader Naresh Tikait on Wednesday said a ‘mahapanchayat' will be held in Muzaffarnagar's Soram village on Thursday to discuss the ongoing protest by wrestlers.

Meanwhile, while addressing a programme at the Mahadeva auditorium in Barabanki, UP, Singh, a BJP MP, said, "I am once again saying that if even if a single allegation is proved against me, I will hang myself." Singh's comments came after the Delhi police said the sexual harassment case against him was under consideration and the status report of the probe will be submitted to court.

DCW notice to cops

Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal on Wednesday issued a notice to police, seeking to file a case against a man who allegedly revealed the identity of a minor wrestler who has filed a sexual harassment complaint Singh.