Delhi Police Probe Sexual Harassment of Journalists During Protests
Delhi Police transferred sexual harassment allegations made by three female journalists to the Crime Branch following protests against the Election Commission of India.
The Delhi Police transferred complaints of sexual harassment made by three female journalists to the Crime Branch for an impartial inquiry. The allegations stem from an October 3 protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, where demonstrators demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. One journalist specifically accused an assistant commissioner of police of sexual assault after she questioned the lack of female officers at the scene.
Protests against Kumar followed a voter-roll revision that removed 130 million names. While the Election Commission of India defended the process as a removal of duplicate and ineligible entries, the Cockroach Janta Party and other opposition figures allege the revision was designed to benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party. Unrest expanded to Mumbai on Sunday, with reports of police brutality.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over the incidents, questioning if the treatment of the women was appropriate. On October 5, protesters gathered outside the Parliament Street police station to demand the registration of a First Information Report and the review of CCTV footage, claiming a previous harassment complaint against the same officer from July had been ignored. Several protesters were detained during the Monday demonstration.
