'Minor' complainant's Uncle accuses wrestlers of deception; Congress' Deepender Hooda dismisses claims

Amit Pehlwan, who claims to be the uncle of the minor complainant in the sexual harassment case against BJP MP Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, has criticized the protesting wrestlers, accusing them of deceiving his family and manipulating them to falsely implicate the former WFI Chief.

The group of wrestlers, which includes Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, as well as Asian Games gold medalist Vinesh Phogat, have been demanding the arrest of Brijbhushan.

However, Amit alleges that the wrestlers are engaged in a fraudulent scheme. He asserts that the age of his brother's daughter (his niece) has been altered to 16 years, enabling the wrestlers to wrongly exploit the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. According to him, the girl was born on February 22, 2004.

"These wrestlers are manipulating my family for their own gain. The alleged victim, whom they claim is a minor, is actually part of my family. She is my niece, and I am her uncle," Amit stated.

He argues that the POCSO Act cannot be applied in this case, as the supposed victim is 20 years old. Amit questions whether this is a misuse of the POCSO Act. He made these statements during an interaction with reporters in Rohtak.

Amit, who has a strained relationship with his brother (the girl's father), explains that he became aware of the entire situation only 10 to 15 days ago when the police visited his home as part of their investigation.

"A special investigation team (SIT) arrived at our house with two sub-inspectors and two female officers to conduct their inquiry. These wrestlers misled my brother. They are shedding crocodile tears (referring to Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat)."

Meanwhile, Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda termed Amit Pehlwan's claims a conspiracy by the BJP to reveal the identity of the minor.

Hooda further stated, " The minor's father has already clarified that they haven't been in touch with this uncle for many years. The father also said that there are multiple criminal complaints against him, and we have nothing to do with them."

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