Delhi protest detentions have triggered allegations of physical assault, sexual harassment and excessive force from members of the Students’ Federation of India, who displayed bruises and other injury marks at a press conference on Monday. The protesters said they were beaten inside detention vehicles while demonstrating against the Special Intensive Revision exercise and restrictions on protests in the capital.
SFI president Adarsh M Saji, leaders Aishe Ghosh, Nadia and Sharanya, among others, accused police of using violence to suppress dissent. The protesters also demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The report did not include a response from Delhi Police or other security authorities to the allegations.
Ghosh said the injuries she had sustained were minor compared with those suffered by other students. She alleged that some protesters had suffered fractures to their hands and legs and were assaulted inside detention vans.
Nadia, identified as the Delhi SFI president, described an alleged assault inside a detention vehicle involving women police personnel. She said six policewomen attempted to stop her friend from recording the incident, while five others restrained her. Nadia alleged that one officer struck her hand and another pulled her hair, while a police officer tried to twist her finger, causing severe pain.
A Delhi SFI member also alleged that women protesters were subjected to sexual humiliation while being detained. She said that, while she was being pushed into a bus, a police officer lifted her kurta. She further alleged that male police personnel were present inside the bus, where women protesters were confined in cramped compartments.
Another protester from Kerala, identified by fellow protesters as Fidel, was allegedly slapped several times on his right ear. SFI members said he suffered serious hearing impairment and was taken to RML Hospital for treatment. The supplied report does not provide medical records or an independent account of the alleged injuries.
CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat, who was also detained during the protests, described the police action as “unprecedented” in her decades of experience in Delhi. She alleged that police personnel were being allowed to act with impunity to intimidate protesters and said women demonstrators had faced inappropriate touching and sexual harassment during detention.
The protests took place as student groups and opposition leaders challenged the restrictions placed on demonstrations in Delhi and opposed the Special Intensive Revision exercise. According to the report, demonstrators attempted to assemble at different locations in the capital and alleged that police used excessive force to prevent them from doing so.
CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby said Left parties would continue mobilising people with civil society groups, intellectuals and cultural personalities. “You can put up barricades, but democratic aspirations of people cannot be contained by any brutal force,” he said.
The immediate public-interest questions concern the treatment of detained protesters, the presence and conduct of personnel inside detention vehicles, access to medical care, and whether the allegations will be examined through an independent process. No such inquiry or official action was identified in the supplied report.
