'Beaten, Abused, Denied Water': Protesters Allege Brutality by Delhi Police
Delhi protesters against the Election Commission describe being beaten and religiously profiled in police custody.
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When Dharmendra Goswami, 25, was picked up by the Delhi police from the protests against the Election Commission of India on October 5, he thought that the worst they would do is keep him in detention for a few hours. Instead, Goswami, a student, was thrashed by police officials on his face and limbs at the Parliament Street Police Station, he alleged. When he was being transferred to Delhi Cantt. Police Station, he said, the cops remarked that he “must be a Muslim, here as a paid protestor hired for Rupees 500”. “Remove his pants and check if he is Muslim,” one of the cops in the car said, Goswami alleged. Immediately, the student told them his surname and confirmed that he is not a Muslim but a Brahmin.
Later, Goswami was placed under arrest for various sections of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita including rioting and unlawful assembly. He was released on bail two days later. His bail order, seen by The Quint, takes note of the custodial torture allegations made by him.
Goswami on the wheelchair while being treated during detention.
Accessed by The Quint.
Goswami is not alone. In the last ten days, several people have come forward with horror stories of being physically assaulted in detention: punched on their faces and kicked on their chests and genitals, left with multiple injuries. The officer at parliament street police station refused to comment.
The Quint reached out to the Delhi Police headquarters and its Media Cell division over email with a detailed list of questions but did not receive a response. The story will be updated when there is a response.
'Cop pulled my hair, twisted my arm and neck'
Aranya Rathod, a 25-year-old student of Delhi University and a member of the progressive group Disha Students’ Organisation, was detained from Connaught Place while taking part in a protest march in the afternoon of October 11. In the detention bus, as Aranya resisted being separated from other detainees, several police officials pushed her to the floor of the bus and started assaulting her, she alleged.
Injury marks on Aranya’s neck, face and arm after she was released from detention.
Injury marks on Aranya’s neck, face and arm after she was released from detention.
Injury marks on Aranya’s neck, face and arm after she was released from detention.
The police separated Aranya from the other detainees and took her behind a police bus where she alleges they brutally beat her up. “They dragged me out of the bus by pulling my hair and took me behind a bunch of police buses where there were no witnesses. One officer said “now we will teach you a lesson,” she said. She was then thrown to the ground where she was kicked on her stomach, slapped on her face, punched across her torso and choked on her neck, she alleged. She was kept in the Connaught Place Police Station.
Aranya alleges that some of the cops abused her and called her a “ghuspethiya” (slur for immigrants). The BJP has repeatedly used this word as a slur to demonise Muslims across the country and to also justify the revision of voter rolls in states with a significant Muslim and immigrant population, such as Assam and West Bengal. “You see that the Delhi police is using the same vocabulary that has been normalised by the BJP over the years to brutalise citizens,” said Aranya.
Aranya’s injuries from the brutalities are visible on her face, knees, and arms. Before she was released, the police conducted a medical test at Lady Hardinge Hospital. Despite multiple requests, the police haven't shared with Aranya her own medical report from the tests after the detention.
The Connaught Place Police Station did not receive calls made by The Quint.
“They are trying to demoralise protestors by brutalising us. I haven’t been able to attend another protest due to the injuries. They think they can finish the movement with violence but our mobilisation will keep getting stronger,” she said.
Over the past two weeks, thousands of young people like Aranya have been protesting on the streets of Delhi demanding the resignation of India’s chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar.
Complaints of brutality across several police stations
30-year-old Arjun Unnikrishnan said after he was picked up from the protests in central Delhi on October 11, he and the other detainees were taken to an isolated location, where they were made to sit on their knees, in multiple rows. The protestors were then picked up one by one and moved to a different police van, this one with cells inside them, used typically for prisoners being transported across prisons, not for detainees of a protest.
Each cell inside these Delhi police vans are tiny spaces, where one cannot stand or spread their legs, and about 10 detainees share that tiny space. Several detainees complained about feeling suffocated in these vans. Some detainees have been able to record videos and click photos inside these police vans.
A prisoner inside the police van.
Special Arrangement: The Quint
Unnikrishnan, and the other detainees, were then taken to a detention center in Pandwala Khurd, a village in South-West Delhi, about 40 km from where they were picked up. They were given no food or water, and released after over 6 hours in detention.
Arjun Unnikrishnan after being released from detention.
Special Arrangement for The Quint.
Saurabh Tripathi, 28, a member of the left group All India Students Association, was detained on October 10 Saturday afternoon and kept at Sanjay Colony Police Chowki which falls under the Maidan Garhi Police Station till 1 am. "At some point during the detention the police separated me and three other people from the rest of the detainees and locked us in a room since we were raising questions about our detention", he said.
He and the other three men in the room were pushed to the ground and slapped aggressively, Saurabh said. "They kicked us with their boots and hit us with their batons. One policeman kept hitting me with the head of the baton."
In response, the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Maidan Garhi Police Station told The Quint, that Saurabh and three others were separated from the other detainees and locked in a separate room since they were doing “naarebaazi” inside the outpost. He denied allegations of any physical violence.
Bruises on Saurabh’s neck after his detention.
Accessed by The Quint
Bruises on Saurabh’s thigh after his detention.
Accessed by The Quint
One of the detainees, Zohrawar Singh Bhati posted a video of himself from inside a police van, with blood oozing out of his forehead. In the video, Bhati said that “uniformed and un-uniformed men” were hitting him from all directions, including “the back of his head” and “in the testicles".
Still from Zohrawar's video showing injury.
Accessed by The Quint.
A video went viral of a protestor being detained even as he had lost consciousness. Speaking to The Quint, Sheikh Yunus, that protestor, said he was kicked on the chest while being detained by the police. “They didn’t care that I am no longer conscious. They detained me anyway. Then they took me to a private hospital for treatment but asked me to pay for it. I don’t have that kind of money, so I refused,” he said. Yunus, 23, is a student who came from Hyderabad just for these protests.
Besides protestors, passersby too were detained as were journalists and lawyers.
Over 35 journalists have been detained so far. On October 13, yet another journalist was detained, despite several media bodies repeatedly condemning such detainments. 20-year-old Aditi is a student journalist was detained while covering the protests of the Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS). She said she was detained at 7 pm; it is illegal for a woman to be detained after six. While leaving the Mandir Marg Police Station, Aditi said she saw policewomen physically assault the KYS women activists who were detained along with her. She accused the police of saying “300 Rupay mein bik jaati hain yeh journalist, fake press card leke aa jati hai (These journalists get sold in Rupees 300, get fake press cards made).” The SHO at Mandir Marg said he does not want to comment.
The Lawyers’ Association For Constitution (LAFC) filed a petition in the Supreme Court on October 13 challenging the detentions and assault of lawyers. The petition takes note of four lawyers part of LAFC who were detained as well. One of them, a male lawyer, was allegedly assaulted and denied timely medical aid. The other three women lawyers were allegedly manhandled before being detained, the petition states.