Rahul Gandhi demands Amit Shah answer for Delhi Police 'misconduct' at Jantar Mantar

Rahul Gandhi has demanded that Home Minister Amit Shah account for allegations that Delhi Police officers sexually assaulted and manhandled female protesters and a journalist at Jantar Mantar on Saturday.

The protests, which led to the detention of hundreds of demonstrators, erupted over opposition claims of voter roll irregularities. But the political focus rapidly shifted to police conduct after a female independent journalist accused a senior officer of groping her.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Gandhi pointed out that the Delhi Police reports directly to the Home Ministry. "Amit Shah ji, where are you? You have to answer for this," Gandhi wrote. He accused the government of being too afraid to register even a single woman's complaint.

"A female journalist has accused a police officer of misconduct at Jantar Mantar," Gandhi said. "For hours, hundreds of journalists have been sitting there with just one demand: that an FIR be registered. Isn’t that the police’s basic duty? They haven’t even done that."

Who are the officers accused of misconduct?

Activists have named specific officers involved in the alleged incident. Saurav Das, a spokesperson for the CJP, accused Assistant Commissioner of Police Vivek Bhagat of touching the female journalist inappropriately and misbehaving with her.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke alleged that local police refused to file a First Information Report (FIR) when the journalist tried to lodge a formal complaint. Dipke questioned whether Deputy Commissioner of Police Sachin Sharma was actively protecting Bhagat.

Other groups reported widespread manhandling. The Left-wing All India Students’ Association (AISA) said male police officers openly abused and groped female protesters, lawyers, and journalists. "A police force that claims to ensure justice to women cannot maintain basic protocols of crowd management," the student organisation said in a statement.

Why were people protesting at Jantar Mantar?

The demonstration on Saturday was organised to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Opposition parties and student groups have accused the election chief of presiding over irregularities during a Special Intensive Revision of Delhi's electoral rolls, claiming that votes were deleted to benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Election Commission of India has rejected these claims, stating that all decisions regarding the voter roll revision were unanimous. It described operational questions raised during the process as standard administrative queries rather than internal dissent.

Police barricaded the area to contain the crowds, detaining several demonstrators, including AISA president Neha Bora. Prominent opposition figures, including senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Prashant Bhushan, were among those who attempted to breach the police lines.

While the Delhi Police have registered at least three FIRs against the protesters at the Parliament Street and Connaught Place police stations, they have not yet confirmed whether any formal action has been taken against the officers accused of assault.