Guwahati: Two women freelance journalists have alleged that Delhi Police slapped and beat them after they sought to ask questions at an event featuring Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, saying the assault was exacerbated after police officials learned that they were Muslim.
Delhi Police has denied the allegations, saying the women had obstructed a designated VVIP route by parking their scooter near the venue.
The Press Club of India, Indian Women’s Press Corps, Delhi Union of Journalists, Press Association and Kerala Union of Working Journalists, in a joint statement, called for punitive action against Delhi Police personnel posted at Saket Police Station, including the station house officer (SHO), over the alleged assault on freelance journalists Shaheen Khan and Nafisa Khan.
The journalists were reporting on the inauguration of a new wing at Max Hospital in Saket, where Shah and Gupta were present.
According to the journalists’ organisations, the two women were first manhandled by a group of Delhi Police personnel from Saket Police Station and then dragged into a police vehicle and taken to the station.
The organisations alleged that after reaching the police station, the SHO instructed police officials to take the journalists to a room, where women officers also joined them and began beating them. They alleged that police officials then asked about their religious identity and escalated the assault, including by hurling religion-specific abuses at the two journalists.
The organisations also alleged that the journalists were threatened with the registration of FIRs. Videos circulating on social media show the two women displaying multiple bruises and welts on their bodies.
The Press Club of India and the other journalists’ bodies urged Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar to order a free and fair investigation against the police officials involved in the alleged assault. They also called on the Press Council of India to take suo motu cognisance of the matter and conduct an independent investigation.
In videos circulating on social media, one of the journalists said they had wanted to question the Delhi chief minister but were detained and taken to Saket Police Station, where police personnel allegedly assaulted them. She alleged that the officers asked which community they belonged to before thrashing them again.
In another video, one of the journalists, visibly distressed, alleged that she was being asked her name after being mentally and physically assaulted. She then told a police officer that she was Muslim and alleged that she and her colleague had been beaten and slapped because of their religion.
Delhi Police rejected the allegations, calling the statement being circulated factually incorrect and misleading.
The police said the two women had obstructed the designated VVIP route by parking their scooter near the venue. Despite repeated requests and instructions to remove the vehicle and clear the route, the women allegedly refused to comply, police said.
In view of the security and safety protocol for the VVIP route, the two women were taken to the local police station for further enquiry, the police said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Anant Mittal, in a statement posted on the official police handle, said claims that the women were assaulted for asking questions to the chief minister were false, misleading and baseless. He urged citizens and social media users to refrain from circulating unverified information.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) criticised the BJP-led Delhi government over the incident. AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj accused Delhi Police of brutally beating the two women reporters for asking questions to Gupta and criticised the chief minister over the alleged assault.