NEW DELHI, Aug. 4 -- A Delhi court on Monday acquitted former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a sexual harassment case lodged by six women wrestlers, bringing the curtain down on a landmark case that involved some of India's top athletes sitting on unprecedented street protests to push for action. Additional chief judicial magistrate Ashwini Panwar cleared Singh - a former Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Uttar Pradesh - and former WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar of insufficient evidence, two years after the trial began. "Both accused Brij Bhushan Singh and Vinod Tomar are hereby acquitted in the present case," Panwar said. The detailed judgment, running into nearly 260 pages, was not available at the time of going to print. Additional public prosecutor Manish Rawat told HT, "We will examine the judgment once we receive a certified copy and plan to challenge it before the appropriate court". "We are deeply saddened that the court did not find Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh guilty of the allegations of sexual violence made by the women wrestlers. From the very beginning, the entire administration, the government, and the system have been engaged in protecting Brij Bhushan," World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat, one of the petitioners, said on X. "The women wrestlers have instructed their lawyers to appeal against this decision, and the appeal will be filed as soon as possible. We have not lost hope, and the wrestlers will continue their fight," added Phogat, now a Congress legislator in Haryana. Singh - a strongman from Kaiserganj whose son Karan Bhushan Singh succeeded him as MP and whose associate Sanjay Singh now heads WFI - hailed the decision. "I said on the very first day that if the allegations are true, I will hang myself. I am very happy that I have been acquitted today. It is good news for me and good news for my supporters. I cannot say anything more than that," he said, beaming after the verdict. WFI chief Sanjay Singh also welcomed the verdict. "These allegations were baseless. Our wrestling has suffered greatly because of these accusations," he said. Singh was charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment) and 506(1) (criminal intimidation) and Tomar was charged with criminal intimidation. The maximum punishment for the offences entailed a five-year imprisonment. The high-profile case first burst into public attention in 2023 when Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia, Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, and double World Championships medallist Vinesh Phogat camped at Jantar Mantar for 38 days in the summer, demanding police action against Singh, who had by then ruled Indian wrestling for over a decade. The unprecedented protests marked a rare instance in India of top women sportspersons bandying together to demand justice in a case of prolonged sexual harassment. As support for the athletes grew, Delhi Police controversially stopped a planned march to the new Parliament, manhandled the wrestlers in public view, and detained them. Under pressure, the government sent then Union sports minister Anurag Thakur to meet the wrestlers. On June 3, 2023, Punia, Malik and her husband Satyawart Kadian met Union home minister Amit Shah. On April 28, 2023, on the Supreme Court's intervention, the Delhi Police registered two first information reports (FIR) - one based on the complaint of six adult women wrestlers against Singh and Tomar, and the second case against Singh, invoking sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on the allegations of a minor wrestler. According to the FIRs, the sexual harassment allegations against Singh spanned 2012 and 2022. In April 2023, Singh's tenure as WFI chief ended....