'Pulled clothes and pushed' - ordeal of protesters in Delhi Protest
Author, Sumedha Pal
Designation, BBC correspondent
Published 13 October 2026, 19:47 IST
Updated 5 minutes ago
Reading Time: 8 minutes
(Warning: Some details and images in this report may be disturbing)
Students and activists detained during the ongoing protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi have accused the police of assault, misbehavior and trying to intimidate.
Some protesters have also shown injury marks on their bodies.
Despite all this, they are continuously participating in the protests. BBC Hindi has talked to some such students and workers.
BBC has also tried to know the stand of Delhi Police in this regard. We have not received any reply from them yet.
Sharanya is a master's student at Ambedkar University, Delhi and a member of the Students Federation of India (SFI). Sharanya, who participated in the protest on October 11, still remembers her experiences during detention.
According to Sharanya, the policemen pushed her and made her board the bus. During this his foot got stuck in the door of the bus.
Sharanya alleged that the female policemen pulled up her clothes and the male commandos tried to push her into the bus. He told that there was neither light nor enough air in the bus. According to him, the policemen also pulled his hair.
Skip to Most Read Skip to content
most read
finished
Sharanya was detained at around 11 am on the day of the protest. He told that he was kept in a detention center in Nangloi and was allowed to go home late at night. According to his allegation, there were no basic facilities like food, drinks and toilets.
'The purpose of detention is to create fear'
skip ahead podcast
Dinbhar: Same voice, new style
Big news from the country and the world that made headlines.
episode
finished
Nadia, Delhi President of SFI and a student of Development Studies, was detained on October 10. She was protesting against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
When we met Nadia, there were injury marks on her body. Despite this, she participated in the demonstration of India Alliance on 12 October.
Nadia alleged that during custody, female policemen pulled her hair and pinched her and caused her injuries. He told that the policemen were trying to snatch his phone and when he protested, he was beaten up.
Nadia alleges that during this time an attempt was made to strangulate her. She remained under deep mental stress due to this experience. However, she said that she would continue performing.
According to Nadia, the purpose of detention is to create fear among the youth. She said that until accountability is not fixed, she will continue to protest.
For them, raising questions on the process of special intensive revision of voter lists i.e. SIR is a part of a larger democratic struggle.
'Beated in the bus for three hours'
Noel, who is doing his PhD in Delhi, had participated in the protest held on October 10 with a poster of Bhagat Singh. In a video shared on social media, policemen can be seen taking away the posters while detaining him.
Noel told that he was made to sit in an orange colored DTC bus. This bus was standing outside AKG Bhawan, the headquarters of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
According to him, he remained in the bus for about three hours and during this time the policemen slapped him repeatedly. He said that he was alone in the bus and he feared for his safety.
According to Noel, he told the policemen that he was a teacher and his father had served in the army. He alleged that even after all this the fighting continued. He was released after about three hours.
Activist Arjun was protesting in Connaught Place, Delhi on 11 October. During that time he was taken into custody. He told that first he was made to sit in a DTC bus and then taken to a detention center outside Delhi.
Arjun alleged that the policemen kicked him on his chest and private parts and punched him repeatedly. He also said that during this his clothes got torn.
Arjun claims that there were some minors also in the bus. They suffered injuries and some even suffered fractures. He alleged that the policemen were hurting some people in such a way that there were no visible marks on the bodies.
However, many of them have shown videos. Even after this, the allegations of these four protesters could not be independently confirmed.
Journalists covering the protest also detained
Journalists reporting on the protests on 10 and 11 October were also detained. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 37 journalists were detained in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Pune in these two days, of which at least 35 were from Delhi.
According to reports, the journalists detained on October 10 included Shoaib Daniyal and Ayush Tiwari of Scroll, Anushka Bhardwaj of Business Standard and Ashwini Kumar Singh, Aastha Savyasachi and Anmol Pritam of Newslaundry. According to Newslaundry, the phones of its journalists were also confiscated.
According to CPJ, on October 11, The Indian Express Hindi journalists Shashwat, Siya and Vijay Kumar were also detained. He told that despite showing his press card to the police, he was made to sit in the bus and was dropped near Chhatrasal Stadium after about 45 minutes.
Have contacted. However, till the time of writing this report, no response has been received from the police.
People taken away from the protest site
These demonstrations started on 2 October and became more prominent on 10 October after the call of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP). The protesters are demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and accountability over the process of particularly intensive vetting of voter lists.
Delhi Police had not given permission to CJP to protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on 10 October. Section 163 of the Indian Civil Security Code (BNSS) has also been implemented in New Delhi area.
Delhi Police Joint Commissioner Nupur Prasad had said on Friday that necessary restrictions have been imposed to maintain public safety and law and order. He warned that appropriate legal action would be taken against those who violate the law.
Extensive security arrangements were made before the demonstration. According to the report of The Indian Express, between 8 and 12 October, 221 companies of Central Armed Police Forces, i.e. about 23,000 personnel, were made available to help the Delhi Police. According to the CPJ report, apart from this, at least 15,000 Delhi Police personnel were also deployed.
The detained people were taken to areas like Nangloi, Bawana, Mundka, Burari and Narela. CPJ also reported that some journalists were taken to detention centers located far from the protest sites. This made it difficult for family and colleagues to trace his whereabouts.
What did the Supreme Court say?
Meanwhile, on October 11, the Supreme Court said that peaceful and unarmed protesters cannot be detained illegally. Not only this, the action of detention should be done as per the procedure prescribed under the law.
Protests still continue in Delhi. Some of the detained people are still trying to recover from their experience. Many people are joining the protest again.
We have contacted Delhi Police by phone and email to know their stand on the allegations of police excesses during the detention of protesters and journalists. However, till the time of writing this report, no response has been received from the police.
Choose BBC News Hindi and get news alerts, live TV, podcasts... all in one place
