"Baseless": Delhi Police On Allegations Of Assault On Female Protesters

The Delhi Police on Monday rejected allegations on social media that female protesters were subjected to physical assault during the recent demonstrations in the national capital, saying they were handled by female personnel and treated with dignity in accordance with prescribed procedures.

New Delhi DCP Sachin Sharma said the allegations were "baseless and misleading" and did not reflect the actual sequence of events.

"Some social media handles are claiming that female protesters were subjected to physical assault. These allegations are baseless and misleading. Female protesters are handled by female staff and are treated with dignity and due regard," Sharma said in a post on X.

He said detentions and releases of protesters were carried out in accordance with applicable law and prescribed procedures.

"Male protesters who were detained were released within the stipulated time period, following due process of law. Any claim suggesting otherwise is factually incorrect and does not reflect the actual sequence of events," the DCP said.

The police response came amid a series of protests in and around Jantar Mantar over the past few days by student groups, political parties and activists demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

AISA members had earlier alleged that its national president Neha Bora was picked up during a protest march towards Jantar Mantar and taken to Narela Industrial Area police station. They had also alleged that she was taken away in a private vehicle without an official number plate and that no woman police officer was present in the vehicle.

Police have rejected these allegations. A senior officer also alleged that some protesters attacked police personnel on duty and bit them during the protests.

The demonstrations have seen repeated detentions as protesters attempted to reach Jantar Mantar despite restrictions and heavy security deployment in the New Delhi district.

Police have maintained that the detentions were carried out as per law and that security personnel deployed at the protest sites followed prescribed. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)