This video of WFI president Brij Bhushan Singh slapping wrestler is from 2021

Hyderabad: India’s top wrestlers have levelled allegations of sexual harassment against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Following this, a video of Brij Bhushan Singh slapping a man on stage has gone viral.

A Facebook user shared the video and wrote, “BJP MP and President of Wrestling Federation of India, Brij Bhushan Sharan, who has been accused of sexual harassment, slapping a wrestler on stage for asking questions.”

The video comes after the country’s wrestlers sat on a three-day-long protest at the Jantar Mantar demanding action against the WFI chief and other officials for the alleged sexual exploitation of several athletes.

The protest was led by decorated wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Deepak Punia, Ravi Dahiya, Bajrang Punia, and Sakshi Malik. The sit-in protest ended after sports minister Anurag Thakur announced that a probe panel will look into the allegations of sexual harassment and financial irregularities against Singh.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the video of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh slapping a man is from 2021.

We ran a keyword search and found multiple reports about Mr. Singh slapping a wrestler in 2021. According to Outlook, Mr. Singh lost his cool and slapped a wrestler during the Under-15 National Wrestling Championships at Shaheed Ganpat Rai Indoor Stadium in Ranchi.

The wrestler was found to be above 15 years of age during the age verification and was barred from participating in the competition. He had stepped onto the stage and started arguing with the WFI president. During the argument, Mr. Singh slapped him in front of everyone.

We also found a video report of the incident published by Oneindia News on 18 December 2021.

It is evident that the video dates back to 2021. Hence, we conclude that the video is not recent and is being shared without a context to mislead people.