'Amit Shah ji, where are you?' : Rahul Gandhi on Delhi Police misconduct with women

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday, October 3, demanded answers from Union Home Minister Amit Shah over allegations that Delhi Police personnel misbehaved with women during a protest at Jantar Mantar.

In a Hindi post on X, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said Delhi Police comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs, and that Shah must answer for the allegations. "A female journalist has accused a police officer of misconduct at Jantar Mantar. 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," Gandhi wrote.

He said hundreds of people were taken into custody at Jantar Mantar on Saturday alone. "There are allegations of misconduct with women protesters. Cameras were snatched, journalists were dragged. And this isn't the first time — we've seen video evidence of police officers engaging in disgusting misconduct with women earlier," he said.

Gandhi alleged that women and students across Delhi, gripped by fear for their safety, were staging a satyagraha, even as the police meant to protect them were instead "raising hands against them." He added, "And a government that fears registering even one woman's complaint — what exactly is it protecting? Delhi Police comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Amit Shah ji, where are you? You have to answer for this."

The allegations stem from a complaint by a woman content creator, who said a senior Delhi Police officer assaulted her, touched her inappropriately and pushed her while she was filming a protest detention. Police said the matter would be handed over to a woman officer for investigation. Delhi Police has registered at least three FIRs in connection with the broader protest at Jantar Mantar held on October 2, two at Parliament Street police station and one at Connaught Place police station, though it remains unclear whether any of these cover the specific misconduct allegation Gandhi referenced.

The Left-wing student organisation All India Students' Association (AISA) made a similar complaint. "Women protesters, journalists and lawyers were manhandled by male police. Several women have complained of being groped by male police personnel," the organisation said in a statement, adding, "A police force that claims to ensure justice to women cannot maintain basic protocols of crowd management. Male police officers openly abused women protesters and behaved in the most unprofessional way."