Three Journalists’ Harassment Complaints Go to Delhi Crime Branch

Three women journalists say police officers harassed them as they covered a protest at Jantar Mantar on October 3. One journalist singled out Assistant Commissioner of Police Vivek Bhagat, alleging he touched her breasts and pushed her while she filmed officers holding a student leader. The allegations have not been confirmed independently. ^9,28

Vivek Bhagat was named in one complaint after the journalist said she questioned him about the presence of women officers during the detention. She said she went to Parliament Street police station to file a complaint, but waited for hours without an FIR being registered. Other journalists and protesters gathered outside the station to demand police action. Delhi Police later said the New Delhi district had received complaints from three women and sent them to the Crime Branch for a “fair and impartial” inquiry. ^6,8

The Crime Branch inquiry sends the complaints to a police unit tasked with examining the claims and recording statements from the complainants and others. But sending complaints for inquiry is not the same as registering an FIR, and reports on October 4 said no FIR had been registered by then. That distinction has become a point of dispute: journalists and protesters demanded a case, while a police official told The Hindu there was not yet evidence to support the allegation.^10,31 The complaint process itself is now under scrutiny.

That scrutiny reaches beyond one alleged encounter. The journalists were covering protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The protests were over claims of irregularities in a review of voter rolls; the Election Commission rejected allegations of wrongdoing. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also questioned the police response. The next step is for the Crime Branch to examine the complaints and record statements, while the allegations remain unproven. ^2,3,17