Three female journalists have accused Delhi Police personnel of sexual harassment while covering protests in the Indian capital against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, reports BBC.
The allegations were made on Saturday after police detained scores of protesters demanding Kumar’s resignation.
Delhi Police said the New Delhi district had received the complaints and transferred them to the Crime Branch for a “fair and impartial” inquiry.
Thousands of protesters gathered in Delhi and Mumbai on Sunday for a third consecutive day, demanding Kumar’s resignation over changes to voter rolls. The Election Commission says the revision aims to remove duplicate and ineligible entries, while opposition parties and protesters allege the process could disenfranchise eligible voters and benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP and Election Commission have rejected the allegations.
Videos circulating online showed protesters being detained and dragged away from the Jantar Mantar protest site in central Delhi.
The journalists’ allegations include inappropriate touching by police personnel. One journalist has also accused an assistant commissioner of police of sexually assaulting her while she was recording police action. The complaints are being investigated by the Crime Branch.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said women fear for their safety and that the Home Ministry must answer for the incident.
“Police dragged me by my hair,” Aahna Singh, an activist and student at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Reuters during the protests. She accused police of “brutality.”
Press Club condemns police action
The Press Club of India has condemned the alleged treatment of journalists during the protests and demanded immediate action on the complaints against police personnel.
The organisation said it was “shocked and dismayed” by the reported treatment of journalists, adding that journalists must be allowed to work freely and document protests without fear.
Dispute over voter-roll revision
The protesters say the voter-roll revision will benefit the BJP.
The Election Commission, however, says the exercise is intended to remove duplicate and ineligible entries and update voter rolls to account for people who have died, left the country or registered at more than one address.
The revision, known as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), has been controversial, with opposition parties accusing the Election Commission of manipulating voter rolls to favour the BJP. The BJP and the Election Commission have rejected the allegations.
The protests have included supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which began as an online satirical movement and has since become a youth-led political pressure group.
The CJP called for the latest protests following reports that election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to decisions and orders issued by Kumar.
The Election Commission has defended its decision-making process, saying differing views are part of the process and that decisions were taken unanimously.
The reported differences have further fuelled opposition demands for Kumar’s resignation.
