Journalist Asma M. Inamdar accused a Delhi police officer of harassing women journalists covering a protest at Jantar Mantar. She called for an investigation and the suspension of the officer involved in the allegation.
In a statement, Inamdar, a senior journalist based in Kalaburagi, said an assistant commissioner of police allegedly touched and pushed a woman journalist inappropriately and prevented her from recording the incident. She also alleged that police failed to protect the journalists and delayed registering a formal complaint, although the woman had approached police for two days.
Inamdar described the reported conduct as an abuse of official power and said journalists must be able to work without fear or harassment. She said the Delhi Union of Journalists and the Press Club of India had also condemned the alleged incident as an attack on democratic and press rights.
She called for the immediate suspension and arrest of officer Vivek Bhagat, registration of the journalists’ complaint and an independent investigation led by a retired Supreme Court judge. Inamdar also urged India’s Home Minister Amit Shah to respond.