Delhi police official, accused of sexually harassing journalist during anti-CEC protest at Jantar Mantar, promoted

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

Senior police officers said it's a routine order and the request was sent a long time ago. Eleven officers have also been promoted.

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

"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," a woman journalist alleged, news agency PTI reported.

In a post on X, the Delhi Police said: “On October 3, during the protest in New Delhi area, while being in law and order situation, allegations of sexual harassment were made by three female journalists against police officers. The New Delhi district has received their complaints and the same are transferred to crime branch for fair and impartial enquiry.”

On Saturday evening, several independent journalists and social media influencers staged a protest outside Parliament Street police station, seeking registration of First Information Reports (FIRs), including an assistant commissioner of police (ACP), against the officers.

Cockroach Janta Party criticised the move, saying if he was being “rewarded for molestation.”

Oppn slams govt, police

Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi criticised the incident and slammed the police for not fulfilling its 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 said in a post on X.

Separately, Priyanka on X said, “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.”

Press Club of India expresses ‘shock’

The Press Club of India also expressed "shock and dismay" over the police's treatment of journalists covering the protest and urged the 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," it added.