Offence didn’t take place in POCSO case: Delhi Police | Delhi News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Thursday filed a “cancellation report” at the Patiala House Courts to drop the charges against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
The cops said “the offence did not occur” after the retraction of accusations of molestation by the complainant and her father.
The court fixed the next hearing for July 4 when it will decide on accepting and reviewing the police report and ordering the closure of the case.
In their cancellation report, police said, “No evidence to substantiate the claims… no CCTV footage or photographs or any evidence were found.” The report runs into 550 pages and lists around 25 witnesses who police had questioned during their probe.
A cancellation report is filed in cases when no corroborative evidence is found for accusations made against the accused. In this case, the wrestler had retracted her allegations in the first week of June and instead made a fresh statement before the magistrate saying she had levelled such charges out of anger after losing a match.
“In the Pocso case, we have submitted a police report under Section 173 of CrPC requesting a cancellation of the case based on statements of the complainant, i.e., the father of the victim and the victim herself,” the Delhi Police spokesperson said.
Police haven’t, however, pressed charges against the wrestler or her father for giving false information to the court. A statement under 164 CrPC before a magistrate cannot be usually retracted and the cops generally file an FIR for perjury under Section 182 of the CrPc whenever such a thing happens. Police did not elaborate why they have not filed an FIR against the woman wrestler and her father in this case.
The FIR in the case was filed by the female wrestler’s father alleging that Singh, on the pretext of clicking a picture with his daughter, had forcefully pulled her towards himself and held her so tightly that she could not move or free herself from his grip. It was also alleged that the accused called her to his room where he tried to make forceful physical contact with her. She claimed to have gone to the room fearing her career would be affected if she didn’t, the father said, also alleging that his daughter was discriminated against by other athletes.
After some time, the girl’s father admitted, even in public, that he was angry with Singh after his daughter lost in the trials and had made the claims of molestation. “My daughter wasn’t sexually harassed. The WFI chief was partial and during the trials it was because of that she suffered and lost,” he admitted.