Babita Phogat accuses Radhica Sreeman of snatching the report from her, says not satisfied with findings

04/26/2023

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Former India wrestler Babita Phogat claimed on Tuesday evening that Radhica Sreeman, a fellow oversight committee member, snatched the final report from her, on sexual harassment claims against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, before she had a chance to read it in its entirety.

Babita stated that Radhica prevented her from reading the report as she objected to certain readings of the findings. "I had read just a few pages of the final report and I had some objections but Radhica Sreeman came and snatched the report. She said since I belong to the same family (Phogat), that is holding the protest, I can't read the report," Babita told PTI.

"She was working on behalf of the chairman (Mary Kom) and told me that the chairman has taken a decision (on the signing of the report)." On the other hand, Radhica called the accusation "ridiculous".

"Why will I do that? What benefit I will accrue by doing something like that. In fact, she read the report 4-5 times and agreed to the findings. Each and every word that was written in the report was explained to her," Radhica said.

"Whatever was written in the report is based on testimonies of all those who appeared in the hearing and everything is video recorded, it can't be tampered with. If at all I snatched the report from her why didn't she write that in her dissent note."

"This is a baseless charge. In fact, on the eve of Holi, all the members sat and whatever was being drafted, based on the hearings, Babita was explained each and every word and she was satisfied."

She went on to say that Babita was supposed to attend the report signing at SAI headquarters on April 4, but failed to show up despite being asked to do so. "Even her phone was switched off that day. She said her baby was unwell so we asked her to come on April 5 and sign the report. Since everyone else had arrived on April 4, the chairman (Mary Kom) decided that members who are present can sign the report and Babita can do that later," explained Radhica.

On the other hand, it is believed that the panel cleared Brij Bhushan with a 5-1 vote, which is yet to be made public.

(With PTI inputs)