Kalaburagi journalist condemns sexual harassment of women journalists, calls it a direct attack on press freedom

Kalaburagi-based senior journalist Asma M. Inamdar has strongly condemned the alleged sexual harassment of women journalists by a Delhi Police officer while they were covering a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

In a statement, Ms. Inamdar alleged that an ACP-rank officer inappropriately touched and pushed a woman journalist and prevented her from recording the incident. She also condemned the alleged failure of the police to provide protection, the reported delay in registering an FIR despite the victim approaching the police for two days, and the alleged intimidation of journalists while they were performing their duties.

Describing the incident as a serious abuse of official power, Ms. Inamdar said journalists must be able to work without fear or harassment. She noted that the Delhi Union of Journalists and the Press Club of India had also condemned the alleged incident as an attack on democratic and press rights.

Ms. Inamdar demanded the immediate suspension and arrest of the accused ACP, Vivek Bhagat, the registration of an FIR based on the journalists’ complaints, and an independent investigation headed by a retired Supreme Court judge. She also called upon Union Home Minister Amit Shah to take moral responsibility and respond to the incident.

“If journalists are not safe while performing their duties at a protest site like Jantar Mantar, it raises serious questions about the protection of press freedom in the country. Such abuse of power cannot be tolerated,” she said.