- Female journalists allege assault, detention at Saket Police Station.
- Police deny claims, cite VVIP security obstruction.
- Media bodies demand impartial probe into alleged incident.
Two female journalists have filed a complaint alleging that they have been detained and assaulted at the Saket Police Station in Delhi after they questioned Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta during an event also attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. However, the Delhi Police has rejected the allegations as "baseless, factually incorrect and misleading."
What’s The Case?
The journalists, Shaheen Khan and Nafisa Khan, who were reportedly on assignment for a digital news platform and YouTube channel 4PM News Network, stated that they were covering the inauguration of a new wing at Saket's Max Hospital, attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.
In a video shared on social media, the two women alleged that the police detained them and took them to the Saket police station after they attempted to question the Chief Minister.
The two women have alleged that they were taken to a room inside the police station, assaulted, questioned about their community, and abused by police officials. Videos have surfaced on social media showing the two women displaying injuries. Their lawyer has also filed a complaint.
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Police Deny Claims
The Delhi Police has denied all the allegations. They alleged that the two women obstructed the VVIP security route by parking their scooter near it. They did not have any identification and refused to move their vehicle despite repeated requests for security reasons.
The cops have also alleged a scuffle with a pregnant female police official. Police say that she was brought to Saket police station for questioning only after the scuffle with the pregnant cop.
Saket police alleged that the women were not held hostage at the police station. They were asked to leave within five to ten minutes; however, they refused to leave. South Delhi DCP Anant Mittal said that the claims of assault for asking questions of the Chief Minister are false and baseless. He appealed to people not to spread unverified information on social media.
Meanwhile, the media organisations, such as the Press Club of India, the Indian Women's Press Corps, and the Delhi Union of Journalists, have strongly condemned the alleged assault. They have demanded an impartial investigation into the matter and action against the guilty policemen (including the SHO) from the Delhi Police Commissioner.