Women's groups protest outside Delhi Police headquarters against alleged sexual violence during anti-SIR stir

Women’s organisations accused police of sexual and physical violence against demonstrators and said such acts were intended to silence women in public life.

Women's organisations on Saturday organised a protest march towards the Delhi Police headquarters over alleged sexual violence by police personnel during the anti-CEC protests, led by the Cockroach Janta Party, in Delhi.

Women's groups protesting outside Delhi Police headquarters, Ashoka Road. (Instagram/@sfidelhi.official)

All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), All India Mahila Sanskritik Sangathan (AIMSS), All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA) and ALIFA (All India Feminist Alliance) participated in the march along with several other women and student groups like Collective and SFI.

In a video shared by PTI on X, women protesters were heard raising the slogans of “Delhi Police sharam karo (Delhi Police, shame on you)" and “tod ke rakhdo vo samaaj, naari jisme bandhi hai aaj (break apart the society that keeps its women shackled)".

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Journalists, gender minorities accuse police of sexual assault

In a joint official statement shared on Facebook, the organisations said, videos, photographs and personal testimonies had documented alleged sexual harassment and physical violence against women, transgender and non-binary protesters during police action since July 20, with reports increasing from October 2.

They also referred to footage that allegedly showed male police personnel assaulting women demonstrators and claimed that incidents of sexual violence had taken place inside police buses and detention centres.

“These deliberate actions by the authorities are nothing but misogynistic attempts to silence women's voices and reveal a larger intent to push us out of politics and public life," they alleged.

Three women journalists had earlier said police officers, deployed on the protest site on October 3, inappropriately touched them as they were covering the protests.

Delhi ACP, Vivek Bhagat, one of the accused, later alleged that the woman journalist made casteist remarks against him. No FIR has been filed against him while a man from Haryana was arrested for allegedly sharing a fabricated video that falsely showed the officer misbehaving with the woman journalist.

According to PTI, the Supreme Court on October 15 said the allegations levelled by the woman journalist against the Delhi Police officer were “very serious”.

CPI leader accuses Centre of being complicit in crimes against women

Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Annie Raja who has served as the General Secretary of NFIW alleged that women participating in the CEC protests were being targeted to silence them, news agency ANI reported. She further accused the Centre of using sexual violence as a tool of intimidation against women.

"To silence us, to disappear the women of this country who are participating in the protest and occupying the public space, the fascist Amit Shah government or Modi government are using sexual assault as a weapon irrespective of age," she said.

Further, she demanded action against the police personnel responsible for the assaults and the resignation of union home minister Amit Shah. She alleged, "Amit Shah should resign because he is the Home Minister; without his knowledge and without his order, no police will dare to use sexual violence, sexual oppression and assaulting the women's private parts as a weapon to prevent women from taking part in the protest," she said.

(With inputs from PTI/ANI)