New Delhi: For the two days that protests called by CJP and left parties have been raging, allegations of police assaulting and manhandling women have been made by many people. Apart from Delhi Police , women personnel from other states as well as paramilitary forces were called in specifically to deal with women protesters. Testimonials from women protesters, however, say that while they may have been detained by women cops, in buses and in detention centres, it was the male officers who manhandled them.
“Not only were the women activists manhandled by male police officers, but they were also slapped while being detained, a blatant violation of Section 45(1) of BNSS that states that only female police officers can physically handle, search or detain a woman. A senior police officer, however, said that Section 45(1) of BNSS applied only to arrests and not detentions.
Not only were we screaming out in pain, but also the experience of being crushed by male bodies was humiliating,” said a young protester who sought anonymity. The bus had no lights and no presence of women police officers, which is mandated by the ruling in Sheela Barse vs State of Maharashtra,” SFI said. “I was one of the people protesting at Connaught Place Sunday. We were in a group and went and stood in front of a bule Delhi Police vehicle. There were a handful of women cops around us, but a majority of them were men, many of whom were wearing helmets and had batons in their hands. Slowly, they pinned us against the bus and the male cops started pushing. They kept their hands in the air, but pushed using their bodies, the women cops were at the peripheries by this time. A reaction from police was awaited till the time of going to press. Meanwhile, in a purported video from Saturday’s protest at Safdarjung flyover, a male police officer could be seen running towards AISA president Neha Bora and colliding with her. He then immediately raised his hands in the air and moved away. In a statement Sunday, SFI alleged that women protesters were manhandled by male cops in the evening after the student outfit’s Tiranga Yatra.