Trigger warning: This story contains disturbing details of sexual violence. Please use Khabri—the doggo to your right—to skip ahead if needed.

The TLDR: A fact-finding report by the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) shows that the Delhi police violently assaulted 70 protesters on February 10—when Jamia Milia students and local residents took out a peaceful march challenging the Citizenship Amendment Act. Of these, 45 people were sexually brutalised, including men and women. Alleged victims were between the ages of 15-60. Underlining its message: A frightening attack on three Caravan magazine journalists.

Tell me about this report!!

It was prepared by the NFIW, a 65-year-old social justice organisation founded by Aruna Asaf Ali. And it is currently led by activist Aruna Roy. The fact-finding document is based on testimonies from victims, doctors and nurses who cared for them, eyewitnesses such as other students and teachers, and legal professionals. You can read it in its entirety here.

And what does it say?

Sexual assault: 30 men and 15 women were attacked by the police during the protest. Of the violence against women, the report claims:

“Women were molested by the male policemen, who attempted to tear their clothes, punched their breasts or stomped on them with their boots, as well as tried to insert their batons into the vaginas. At least 15 women who were stomped on in their private parts, and they suffered injuries in their vaginas.”

Of the violence against men, the report notes:

“The sexual assault on men was equally severe. The attack on [the] groin and rectum resulted in severe injuries. The heinous and common feature of the attacks on both the genders was an attempted demonstration of the unlimited power of the police over the protestors.”

Physical assault: The report also accuses the police of severely beating 30 boys—who were packed into a bus and taken to the police station: “In the approximately 40 minute bus drive to the station, the boys were constantly beaten in the bus, their groins kicked at with boots.” Many had to be admitted to the hospital for their injuries.

Chemical assault: NFIW also claims that the police sprayed protesters with a toxic chemical—which was not tear gas—that caused “immobility, drowsiness and severe headaches, as well as choking and muscle pain.” And the symptoms persisted for days after the protest. At the time, the cops claimed the cloud of chemicals was due to mosquito fumigation at a nearby hospital. 

Is this true?

The police have refused to comment or even respond to media inquiries—but it has denied all allegations of police brutality in the past. But since the violence in February, when 50-plus residents were killed, northeast Delhi has become a cesspool of violence—with both police personnel and rightwing outfits targeting protesters and local Muslim residents. The most recent casualty: three journalists who work for Caravan magazine.

Point to note: The Minority Commission Report released in July flags similar incidents of sexual intimidation by police. At an anti-CAA sit in: 

“Police pulled their pants down and pointed their genitals towards the women stating that they wanted ‘freedom’ and they were there to give them ‘freedom’ and that this was their ‘freedom.’” 

Journalists? Tell me more, please!

On August 11, three Caravan reporters—Shahid Tantray, Prabhjit Singh and a woman journalist—were assaulted by a rightwing Hindu mob in Northeast Delhi. They were investigating a complaint that three local Muslim women were sexually assaulted in the local police station.

The sexual assault complaint: On August 8, ten women from Subhash Mohalla went to file a complaint against a gang of Hindu residents. They had raised communal slogans and bullied Muslim residents on the nights of August 5 and 6—the dates of the Ram Mandir inauguration. Three women—including a mother and her 17-year-old daughter—went inside the police station, and were allegedly sexually assaulted.

Singh and Tantray filed this story based on their accounts:

“After one such occasion, she took a deep breath to compose herself and said that policemen pulled her daughter by her hair and ‘tried to drag her into a dark corner.’ Pointing to her own chest, she added in between sobs, ‘Meri beti ko galat-galat jaga haath lagaya’ (They touched my daughter in wrong places). Her daughter repeated the same. ‘They misbehaved with us a lot—with me, my mother and another woman who was with us,’ the 17-year-old said. ‘They misbehaved with us so much, I can’t tell you.’”

Also see: This clip below of mobs roaming Northeast Delhi neighbourhoods during the Ram Mandir celebrations.

The attack on journalists: 

Here’s what happened according to the report published by Caravan:

• On August 11, the three reporters were in the neighbourhood to follow up on the story. 
• They were taking photos of saffron flags, when they were accosted by a mob of locals.
• A saffron kurta-clad man who called himself “BJP general secretary” asked for Tantray’s ID card, and realised he was Muslim.
• The mob set upon Tantray, yelling “Mullah saala kattua” and “Saale jaan se maar denge.” Singh too was beaten when he tried to intervene. 
• Two policemen were present but did nothing until reinforcements arrived.

The woman reporter managed to get away but was soon surrounded herself. According to her testimony:

“The men, who looked to be in their early twenties, began taking photos and videos of her, and ‘making cheap and lewd comments and started saying, Dikhao, dikhao’ (Show, show). As she walked away, ‘a middle-aged man in a dhoti and a white t-shirt, with a bald head and a slim pony-tail stood in front of me… He then opened his dhoti and exposed his genitals while looking at me. He proceeded to shake his [genitals] with his hand and started making objectionable and lewd expressions, while laughing at me.’”

So what’s happened now?

As of today, the police have not registered any FIR. The PR officer has since issued the following statement:

“They were taking pictures which led to heated exchange of words between media persons and local people. Police personnel acted swiftly and brought media persons to the police station. Taking pictures without consent may provoke those present and create law and order problems including communal problems. Journalists of Caravan and a lady of the locality had given cross-complaints which are being enquired into and appropriate legal action will be taken on conclusion of the enquiry.”

The bottomline: Do we need one?

Reading list

Read the NFIW report, or the highlights in Scroll. Caravan has a detailed account of the attack on their journalists. Also read: Their story on the alleged sexual assault they were investigating. Huffington Post has details of the Minority Commission Report. The Print has more eyewitness and victim testimonies, describing the pattern of sexual intimidation and violence in February.