Opposition leaders from the Indian National Congress and Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday questioned the Centre and Delhi Police after no FIR was registered over sexual harassment claims made by three women journalists.
The Opposition maintained that it was their “basic duty” to register an FIR in the matter.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, flagged the alleged police “misconduct at Jantar Mantar” during the protests on Saturday, asking why the government “fears registering a woman’s complaint. He further said that the Delhi Police comes under the ministry of home affairs, adding that Union home minister Amit Shah would “have to answer for this. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi too launched criticism against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Shah, saying it was the police’s “job to provide security”. Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bharadwaj, who also joined the protest outside the Parliament Street Police Station where the journalist and her lawyer were present, said “failure” to register the FIR was “not merely a procedural lapse” but could constitute “a punishable offence.”
Three women journalists have accused senior Delhi police officers of sexual harassment during the protest against the Election Commission (EC) at Jantar Mantar on Saturday. Their complaints have been forwarded to the crime branch for a detailed probe, the city police said on Sunday.
What have the Opposition leaders said?
“There are allegations of misconduct with women protesters. Cameras were snatched, journalists were dragged. “. Women engaged in peaceful protests also allege that the police are behaving very indecently with them. The very police whose job it is to provide security is making women feel threatened. “Is this the right way to treat women? If not, then why don’t you take notice of it?” she asked, tagging Shah and PM Modi.
Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi, in a post on X, said, it was the “police’s basic duty” to register an FIR in the matter, saying hundreds of journalists had been sitting outside the police station with this demand. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi too said that “no concrete action was taken” in the matter. From college students to journalists—women are facing insecurity everywhere,” she said.
And this isn’t the first time—we’ve seen video evidence before of police officers engaging in disgusting misconduct with women,” he said, highlighting that hundreds were taken into custody on Saturday during the protest in Delhi.
