Three female journalists have come forward with allegations that they were sexually harassed by police officers while covering street demonstrations in India's capital, New Delhi. The complaints were lodged on Saturday, following a day of chaotic scenes in which law enforcement personnel detained large numbers of young people who had gathered to demand the resignation of the country's chief election commissioner.
Delhi Police acknowledged the allegations in a statement posted on social media, confirming that its New Delhi District had received the complaint. The force said the matter had been handed over to its crime branch, which will conduct what it described as a fair and impartial inquiry into the accusations. The decision to transfer the case to a specialised investigative unit suggests authorities are treating the claims with a degree of seriousness, though critics remain sceptical about whether officers will be held accountable.
The accusations levelled by the women journalists include inappropriate touching by some members of the police force. The allegations have intensified scrutiny of law enforcement conduct during a protest movement that has been growing in size and intensity over recent days. The demonstrations, now in their third consecutive day as of Sunday, have drawn thousands of participants in both Delhi and Mumbai.
At the heart of the unrest is a demand for Gyanesh Kumar, the chief election commissioner, to step down over sweeping changes to the country's voter rolls. The Election Commission has defended the exercise, insisting it is designed to remove duplicate and ineligible entries from the electoral register. According to official figures, approximately 130 million names have been struck off the voters' list so far — a staggering number that has fuelled widespread suspicion and anger among opposition parties and civil society groups.
Videos circulating online depict chaotic scenes at the Jantar Mantar protest site in central Delhi, where demonstrators were physically dragged away by police officers. Aahna Singh, an activist and student at Jawaharlal Nehru University, gave a harrowing account of her experience during the protests, telling Reuters news agency that police had dragged her by her hair. She accused the police of resorting to brutality in their handling of the demonstrators.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi weighed in on the controversy, stating that women in India fear for their safety. He directed sharp criticism at the home ministry, insisting it must answer for the conduct of the police during the protests. Gandhi's intervention has elevated the issue from a matter of local policing to a national political flashpoint, placing additional pressure on the government to respond.
The Press Club of India has demanded immediate action on the complaints filed against the police officers. In a strongly worded statement, the organisation expressed shock and dismay at the treatment of journalists covering the protests. It declared that behaviour of this kind cannot be normalised in a democracy, adding that journalists must be allowed to work freely and without fear, and to document those who gather to raise various issues. The statement reflects broader concerns within India's media community about press freedom and the safety of reporters covering civil unrest.
Demonstrators involved in the protests argue that the voter-roll revision will benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party. This claim has been repeatedly rejected by both the BJP and the Election Commission, who maintain that the process is a routine administrative necessity. The commission has pointed out that the last such revision was conducted nearly a quarter of a century ago and that the voters' list requires updating to account for people who have died, left the country, or are registered in more than one location after relocating to a new address.
Despite these assurances, the exercise has been mired in controversy from its inception. Opposition parties have accused Kumar of manipulating the voters' list to favour the BJP in future elections — allegations that both the ruling party and the electoral body have strenuously denied. The controversy has become a focal point for broader anxieties about the integrity of India's democratic processes.
Among the participants in the protests have been supporters of the influential Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a pressure group that began as an online satirical movement before evolving into a significant mobilising force. The CJP recorded its first major victory in July when it forced the then Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, to resign following weeks of protests calling for education reforms. That success appears to have emboldened the group to take on a more ambitious target.
The CJP called for the latest round of protests after a report in The Indian Express revealed that Kumar's two fellow election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had formally objected at least 14 times over a period of 10 months to decisions and orders they said had been issued without their knowledge. These reported disagreements were said to centre largely on the controversial revision of the electoral rolls, known as the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, which commenced last year.
The Election Commission has defended its internal working methods, stating in a statement that differing views were a normal part of the decision-making process and that all decisions had been taken unanimously. However, the revelations sparked a furore across the political spectrum, with opposition leaders seizing on the reported dissent within the commission and renewing their calls for Kumar's resignation. The combination of the voter-roll controversy, the sexual harassment allegations against police, and the growing protest movement has created a volatile political environment in India's capital and beyond, testing the government's response on multiple fronts simultaneously.
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