Three female journalists have accused police officers in India of sexual harassment during street protests in the capital Delhi. The claims were made on Saturday after the force detained numerous young people calling for the resignation of the chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar. In a post on social media, Delhi Police stated that its New Delhi District had received the complaint, which has been transferred to its crime branch for a "fair and impartial" inquiry.
Thousands of protesters gathered in Delhi and Mumbai for a third day on Sunday, demanding Kumar's resignation over large-scale changes to voter rolls. The Election Commission claims the exercise is intended to remove duplicate and ineligible entries, with 130 million names reportedly struck off the voters' list so far.
Videos online show individuals being physically removed from the Jantar Mantar protest site in central Delhi. The accusations from the women journalists include inappropriate touching by some police officers. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi stated that women fear for their safety and that the home ministry must "answer for this."
Aahna Singh, an activist and student at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Reuters during the protests that police dragged her by her hair and described their actions as "brutality." The Press Club of India has demanded immediate action regarding the complaints against police officers, expressing that it was "shocked and dismayed" by the treatment of journalists.
The organization stated, "Behaviour of this kind cannot be normalised in a democracy. Journalists must be allowed to work freely, without fear, and document those who gather to raise various issues."
Protesters argue that the voter-roll revision will benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Election Commission has defended the exercise, stating that the last revision was conducted nearly 25 years ago and that the voters' list needs to be updated to account for deceased individuals, those who have left the country, or those registered in multiple locations due to relocation.
However, the initiative has faced controversy, with opposition parties accusing Kumar of manipulating the voters' list to favor the BJP during elections. Both the BJP and the Election Commission have denied these accusations.
The protests have included supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which began as an online satirical movement. The CJP recorded its first major victory in July when it forced the resignation of the then Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan after weeks of protests calling for education reforms.
The CJP called for the latest protest following a report in The Indian Express that indicated Kumar's two fellow election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had formally objected at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders issued without their knowledge. The reported differences primarily concern the controversial revision of the country's electoral rolls known as the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, which began last year.
The Election Commission has defended its operations, stating that "differing views" are part of the "decision-making process" and that all decisions were made unanimously. However, these revelations have led to opposition leaders demanding Kumar's resignation.