Claim
An old video showing embattled Wrestling Federation of India (WFI)'s chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian slapping a young man on stage is being shared without clarifying that it is not recent. The post has been captioned in Hindi as, Facebook reel (Original caption in Hindi: “BJP का सांसद पहलवान को मरते हुए”)
Fact
BOOM has debunked the same video earlier. The incident in the video is from December 2021 and long before several prominent Indian wrestlers accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment in January 2023. The wrestlers who have resumed protests are demanding the removal of Singh from the post he has held since 2011 and also demanding a probe into allegations of sexual harassment. BOOM found that the video is originally from 2021, when Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh had slapped a wrestler who asked him to allow him to participate in the U-15 National Wrestling Championship. Singh lost his temper when the wrestler continued to try to persuade him despite not being qualified for the category. He then slapped him twice at the Shaheed Ganpat Rai Indoor Stadium, Ranchi on December 17, 2021, reported on Times of India.