Delhi Police ACP Vivek Bhagat promoted despite sexual harassment allegation at Jantar Mantar

The Cockroach Janta Party criticised Bhagat’s promotion, questioning whether he was being “rewarded for molestation”.

Delhi Police ACP (Connaught Place) Vivek Bhagat, who has been accused of sexually harassing a female journalist during an anti-CEC protest at Jantar Mantar, was promoted to the rank of Additional DCP on Monday.

Senior police officers said the promotion was part of a routine order and that the request for it had been sent a long time ago. Eleven other officers were also promoted along with Bhagat.

Three women journalists accuse police officers of sexual harassment 

Three women journalists have accused senior Delhi Police officers of sexual harassment during Saturday’s protest against the Election Commission at Jantar Mantar. The police said on Sunday that their complaints had been forwarded to the Crime Branch for a detailed investigation.

One of the journalists alleged that she questioned ACP Vivek Bhagat about the absence of women police personnel while protesters were being detained.

“Police personnel were detaining protesters, and there were no women police personnel present at the spot. I asked ACP Vivek Bhagat of the Delhi Police about the absence of women police personnel, following which he sexually assaulted me and pushed me back”, the woman journalist alleged.

The Delhi Police said in a post on X that the allegations were made on October 3 during the protest in the New Delhi area. It said the complaints received by the New Delhi district had been transferred to the Crime Branch for a “fair and impartial enquiry”.

Journalists protest, seek FIRs

On Saturday evening, several independent journalists and social media influencers staged a protest outside Parliament Street police station, demanding registration of First Information Reports, including an FIR against an ACP.

The Cockroach Janta Party criticised Bhagat’s promotion, questioning whether he was being “rewarded for molestation”.

Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi condemn incident

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi criticised the incident and accused the police of failing to fulfil their basic duty.

“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”, Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X.

Priyanka Gandhi said that women journalists covering the protest had accused police personnel of sexual harassment. She also said that despite protests by dozens of journalists, no FIR had been filed and no concrete action had been taken.

“During reporting at Jantar Mantar, women journalists have accused police personnel of sexual harassment. Despite protests by dozens of journalists, no FIR was filed, nor was any concrete action taken. Women engaged in peaceful protests also allege that the police are behaving very indecently with them. The very police whose job it is to provide security is making women feel threatened. From college students to journalists women are facing insecurity everywhere”, she said in a post on X.

Press Club expresses ‘shock and dismay’

The Press Club of India expressed “shock and dismay” over the treatment of journalists covering the protest and urged Delhi Police to act on the complaint immediately.

“Behaviour of this kind cannot be normalised in a democracy. Journalists must be allowed to work freely, without fear, and document those who gather to raise various issues. That this is not being allowed even at the heart of the national capital does not bode well for the trajectory of media freedom in India”, it said in a statement.

“The Delhi Police must immediately act on the female journalist’s complaint and ensure that it gives media persons the space to do their jobs without having to face aggression and threats”, the Press Club added.

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