Delhi protest: What women journalists alleged and how police have responded

Three women journalists say Delhi Police personnel sexually harassed them while they were covering a protest near Jantar Mantar on October 3. One journalist has accused an assistant commissioner of inappropriately touching and pushing her as she questioned police action at the site. Delhi Police say they have received the women’s complaints and sent them to the Crime Branch for an impartial inquiry. The complainants and their supporters have also sought a formal first information report, or FIR, against the officer named in one allegation.

What the journalists allege

The protest was part of a demonstration demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over objections to a revision of electoral rolls. The journalists were covering police detentions when the alleged incidents occurred. One complainant said she asked Assistant Commissioner of Police Vivek Bhagat why women police personnel were not present where protesters were being detained. She alleges that he then touched her inappropriately and pushed her back. That account is an allegation, not a finding against the officer.

The women’s complaints also describe alleged manhandling by police personnel during the protest. Accounts of what happened to each journalist have not all been set out in the same detail publicly. The allegation against Bhagat should therefore not be read as a description of every complaint. Journalists covering the demonstration have separately said that police treated them aggressively despite their identifying themselves as members of the press, and that some were detained alongside protesters.

The complainant who named Bhagat says she went to Parliament Street police station seeking an FIR but did not get one at the time. Journalists and supporters gathered outside the station to press that demand. The Cockroach Janta Party said on October 4 that police again declined to register an FIR when its members accompanied the complainant to the station, citing the Crime Branch inquiry. That is the party’s account of the exchange; police have acknowledged receiving complaints but have not announced an FIR against Bhagat in their public response.

What police say they have done

Delhi Police said on October 4 that New Delhi district officers had received sexual-harassment complaints from three women journalists and transferred them to the Crime Branch for what police described as a fair and impartial inquiry. Police have not said that the allegations are substantiated. An inquiry into complaints is distinct from the registration of an FIR, the specific step the complainant and her supporters are demanding.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Neha Yadav gave a further account of the police response. She said three women who identified themselves as journalists lodged a complaint at about 6 p.m. alleging manhandling during their detention. According to Yadav, police recorded the complaint, conducted medical examinations and referred the matter to the Crime Branch. She asked anyone with relevant footage to provide it to investigators. Saying a complaint was recorded does not, by itself, establish that an FIR was registered over the sexual-harassment allegation.

Yadav also said police had warned protesters to leave because restrictions on assembly were in force and detained those who did not comply. That explanation addresses the protest detentions; it does not resolve the journalists’ allegations about how officers treated them. The Crime Branch is expected to examine the complaints and take statements from the women and others with information about the incidents.

Responses and the outstanding question

The Press Club of India has urged Delhi Police to act on the woman journalist’s complaint. It said journalists had reported aggressive treatment despite showing press identification and raised concern about the restrictions they faced while covering the protests. It also criticised the suspension of internet services around Jantar Mantar, saying it hampered reporting.

Opposition leaders have called for action. Rahul Gandhi asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah to answer questions about police conduct and the reported delay in registering an FIR. The Aam Aadmi Party has likewise demanded an FIR against Bhagat. Their statements are calls for accountability, not findings that the alleged misconduct occurred.

As of October 4, the confirmed police step is the referral of the three complaints to the Crime Branch. Whether an FIR will be registered in response to the journalist’s allegation against Bhagat, and what the inquiry establishes about each woman’s account, remain unresolved.