Indian wrestler who led sexual harassment fight among Time’s 100 most influential people

Sakshi Malik led a protracted campaign against a wrestling federation chief for allegedly harassing athletes and even hung up her boots in protest

Sakshi Malik, an Indian wrestler who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, is detained by the police during a protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the president of the Wrestling Federation of India, in New Delhi (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

India’s first and only woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal has been named among the world’s 100 most influential people in Time magazine’s 2024 list.

The athlete features in the Icons category for leading a fight against sexual harassment of women wrestlers and holding a sit-in protest in capital Delhi.

She is listed alongside actors Taraji P Henson and Alia Bhatt, singer Dua Lipa, and Russian opposition leader Yulia Navalnaya. Malik won a bronze at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

“Proud to be included in the 2024 #TIME100 list,” Malik said in a post on X.

Malik, 31, led a protest against the alleged sexual harassment of wrestlers by former Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is a six-time lawmaker from prime minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Malik, along with World Championships medallist Vinesh Phogat and Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia, camped in Delhi’s streets in January 2023 to demand the resignation of the wrestling body’s chief.

But the protest soon ballooned into an “unprecedented” battle in the Indian sporting community, Time noted, and forced Malik to hang her boots “in an emotional, public, and very brave act of defiance”.

“This fight is no longer only for India’s female wrestlers,” Malik said. “It is for the daughters of India whose voices have been silenced time and again.”

Sakshi Malik celebrates winning the Women’s Freestyle 62 kg gold medal match at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games (Getty Images)

Mr Singh was removed from the wrestling federation and charged with sexually harassing six female wrestlers. The lawmaker has rejected the allegations.

Malik, a 2016 Olympics bronze medalist, announced that she was quitting wrestling immediately after Sanjay Singh, a close aide of Mr Singh, was elected as new wrestling federation chief.

The Time list pairs awardees with guest contributors who are specially selected to write about them, with documentary filmmaker Nisha Pahuja penning a tribute for Malik.

“She did not, however, quit the battle. Her light, and the light of all those standing against harassment, continues to shine,” Ms Pahuja wrote.

Malik and Bollywood actress Bhatt are among seven people of Indian origin who are on the list this year. The others are Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, World Bank chief Ajay Banga, British restaurateur and cookbook author Asma Khan, Yale University professor Priyamvada Natarajan, and clean energy entrepreneur Jigar Shah.