Two independent women journalists on Thursday alleged they were beaten by Delhi Police personnel in south Delhi's Saket police station. The charges were refuted as "factually incorrect" and "misleading" by the force.
The journalists alleged that police teams detained them before taking them to the Saket police station, where they were assaulted.
"The statement being circulated is factually incorrect and misleading. Two women had obstructed the designated VVIP route by parking their scooter near the venue," the police said.
Despite repeated requests and instructions to remove the vehicle and clear the route, they refused to comply. In view of the security and safety protocol of the VVIP route, both women were taken to the local police station for further enquiry, they said.
The statement posted from the official handle of Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Anant Mittal said, "Claims suggesting otherwise, including allegations of assault for asking questions to the Hon'ble Chief Minister, are totally false, misleading and baseless. Citizens and social media users are advised to refrain from circulating unverified and misleading information."
Several videos of the journalists went viral on social media in which both of them could be seen showing injury marks on different parts of their bodies.
Later in the day, another video surfaced on social media in which one of the journalists claimed that they had gone to South Delhi to cover a programme and intended to question Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.
"We wanted to question the Delhi Chief Minister. But we were detained, brought to the Saket Police Station. The police teams took us to a room, where they assaulted us brutally. They asked from which community we belonged; they thrashed us again," the journalist alleged in the video.
She further claimed that she suffered injuries to her leg and arm, while her fellow journalist sustained an injury to her leg.
The allegations could not be independently verified.
The Aam Aadmi Party hit out at the BJP-led Delhi government over the incident.
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj, in a post on X, said, "Two women reporters have been very brutally beaten by Delhi Police for asking questions from CM Rekha Gupta. Shame on woman CM Rekha Gupta."
The incident has sparked reactions on social media, with videos purportedly showing the journalists displaying their injuries in the police station being widely circulated. The journalists said they were proceeding to AIIMS for medical examination, following which the MLCs would document the injuries sustained by them.
