Leftist groups accuse cops of harassing women protestors; demonstrate outside Delhi Police HQ

New Delhi, Oct 17 (IANS) Left-Wing women’s organisations on Saturday staged a protest outside the Delhi Police Headquarters against the alleged detention of women journalists and protestors during recent demonstrations in the national Capital, accusing the Delhi Police of targeting women and demanding an immediate end to their alleged “harassment”.

A large number of women activists and representatives of various organisations gathered outside the Delhi Police headquarters, raising slogans against the police action and questioning the detention of women participating in the ongoing protests.

The demonstrators also reiterated their demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over the controversy surrounding the revision of electoral rolls and people allegedly being left out of the list.

Holding banners and raising slogans against the alleged police excesses, the protesters demanded accountability from the Delhi Police and called for women journalists and activists to be allowed to exercise their democratic rights without facing what they described as intimidation or harassment.

The demonstration was attended by members and representatives of several organisations, including the Student Federation of India (SFI), All India Mahila Samskritik Sanghatan (AIMSS) and Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), among others.

According to the protesters, several women journalists and female demonstrators have been detained by the Delhi Police during the ongoing protests in the national Capital.

They alleged that such action had raised serious concerns about the treatment of women participating in public demonstrations and questioned the manner in which the police were handling the protests.

“We have never seen such incidents in this country where women protestors are facing sexual harassment at the hands of police. During recent protests, we have seen incidents of police touching the women protestors’ body parts inappropriately; this is something that never happened before,” an activist told IANS.

“The brutality shown by the Delhi Police should stop. No one can stop us from protesting against the ECI; this is our democratic right. We cannot tolerate the shamelessness shown by the police towards the women protesters,” another said.

Another activist, speaking to IANS, said, “The women of this country will not tolerate this kind of harassment for simply demanding their rights. This is not fair, and we will continue to raise our voice against the harassment by the Delhi Police.”

The activists also expressed anger over the detention of All India Students’ Association (AISA) President Neha Bora, claiming that she was kept at a police station for several hours late on Saturday.

During the demonstration, the protesters called on the Delhi Police to ensure that women participating in protests were treated in accordance with the law and that their rights were respected.

–IANS

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