Congress MP Rahul Gandhi criticized the police for failing to register the complaint promptly, emphasizing the need for accountability
Journalists and protesters have warned of further demonstrations outside the Parliament Street Police Station in Delhi after an independent journalist alleged that she was sexually assaulted by a senior police officer during a protest at Jantar Mantar.
CJP member Saurav Das, speaking outside Parliament Street Police Station in the early hours of Sunday, said protesters would return at 11:00 on Sunday morning and tell police that “time’s up”. “We will tell the police that time’s up and now we want the copy of the FIR over Rosie’s complaint,” he said.
Das said journalists, protesters and lawyers would gather outside the station in support of the journalist. He alleged that the officer named in the complaint, Vivek Bhagat, had faced previous complaints of similar sexual assaults. That claim has not been independently verified.
The protest followed an allegation by Rosie, an independent journalist, that she was groped and pushed by Bhagat while she was covering the detention of AISA activist Neha Bora at Jantar Mantar on Saturday.
In a video message posted by CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, she said, “It’s been more than three hours that I have been sitting inside Parliament Street Police Station.” She alleged that Bhagat “groped me and then pushed me”.
Hundreds of journalists subsequently gathered outside Parliament Street Police Station to protest against the alleged harassment and assault.
Das accused Delhi Police of protecting the officer and said the force had asked for time to examine video footage of the incident. “The police have said that they just need a little time to look at the video footage and so on,” he said.
He argued that a complaint of sexual assault should result in an immediate FIR, adding: “But the police, the Delhi police, are protecting their predator. We will absolutely not tolerate this.” Das said protesters had nevertheless agreed to give police time to examine the footage. “Whereas it does not take more than half an hour to watch the video,” he said. “But even then we want to give the Delhi police the time they want to take.”
Rahul Gandhi Questions Delhi Police
The allegations have also drawn criticism from Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.
In a post on X, Rahul said a female journalist had accused a police officer of misconduct and questioned why an FIR had not been registered after hours of protests. “Isn’t that the police’s basic duty? They haven’t even done that,” he wrote.
Rahul also referred to allegations that protesters had been detained at Jantar Mantar, women protesters had faced misconduct and journalists had been dragged and had their cameras snatched.
“Women across Delhi, students, are gripped by fear for their safety, staging satyagraha—but the very police responsible for protecting women are raising hands against them,” he wrote.
He also directed his criticism at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, noting that Delhi Police comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs. “Amit Shah ji, where are you? You have to answer for this,” he wrote.
