3 journalists accuse cops of sexual harassment at Jantar Mantar protest

: Three women journalists have accused police officers of sexual harassment during the protest against the Election Commission (EC) at Jantar Mantar on Saturday and their complaints have been forwarded to the crime branch for a detailed probe, the police said on Sunday

: Three women journalists have accused police officers of sexual harassment during the protest against the Election Commission (EC) at Jantar Mantar on Saturday and their complaints have been forwarded to the crime branch for a detailed probe, the police said on Sunday.

Police personnel detain members of the AISA, SFI, and other student organisations during a protest on October 4 (Arvind Yadav/HT)

In a post on X, the Delhi Police said: “On October 3, during the protest in New Delhi area, while being in law and order situation, allegations of sexual harassment were made by three female journalists against police officers. The New Delhi district has received their complaints and the same are transferred to crime branch for fair and impartial enquiry.”

The three women journalists said officers, deployed on the spot, inappropriately touched them as they were covering the protests. The number of officer nor their identities have been shared so far.

On Saturday evening, several independent journalists and social media influencers staged a protest outside Parliament Street police station, seeking registration of First Information Reports (FIRs) against the officers. On Sunday also, people reached there and demanded FIRs.

Deputy commissioner of police (perception management and media cell) Neha Yadav, in an official video statement, urged witnesses to share any video footage related to the alleged sexual harassment with the crime branch.

“Despite section 163 of the BNSS (prohibitory orders) being in force in the New Delhi area, AISA and other parties held a protest against SIR on October 3. The protesters were informed about Section 163 of the BNSS and directed to leave the spot, and action was taken to detain them when they did not comply. At around 6 pm, three women who identified themselves as journalists filed a complaint alleging manhandling by Delhi Police officials and staff during the detention. Their complaints were taken, they underwent medical examinations and all the complaints were sent to the crime branch. I request all of you that if you have any video footage related to this, please share it with the crime branch,” she said in her statement.

A senior police officer, who asked not to be identified, said since the allegations were related to sexual crimes against women and were levelled against police officers on duty, an impartial enquiry was required to collect relevant evidence and substantiate the allegations.

“Since, several police officials from the Parliament Street police station and the New Delhi district were also in the protests-related law and order duty, it would have been unfair to assign officers of the same station or police district to conduct the enquiries into the complaints of the women journalists. Hence, the complaints have been transferred to the crime branch,” the officer said.

Many politicians and activists also took to social media platforms to criticise the incident, including leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi.

“A female journalist has accused a police officer of misconduct at Jantar Mantar. For hours, hundreds of journalists have been sitting there with just one demand: that an FIR be registered. Isn’t that the police’s basic duty? They haven’t even done that,” Rahul said in a post on X.

Separately, Priyanka on X said, “During reporting at Jantar Mantar, women journalists have accused police personnel of sexual harassment. Despite protests by dozens of journalists, no FIR was filed, nor was any concrete action taken. Women engaged in peaceful protests also allege that the police are behaving very indecently with them. The very police whose job it is to provide security is making women feel threatened. From college students to journalists—women are facing insecurity everywhere.”

At least 1,000 protesters were detained on Friday as they tried to reach Jantar Mantar for the agitation against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process of the electoral rolls.

Three FIRs have been registered at two police stations – Parliament Street and Connaught Place – based on daily diary (DD) entries made by police officials in connection with the protest. The cases were registered under section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for “disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant,” police officers aware of the developments said.