Allegations of assault on protesters in Delhi, why are Hindutva organizations in the news?

Many videos surfaced on social media on Saturday. Some people claiming to be members of Hindutva organizations were seen allegedly abusing and assaulting the people protesting in Delhi.

The protesters had taken to the streets demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

In a video, a girl is seen crying and saying that she was assaulted. When a journalist asks her if the police saved her, she replies that the police did not.

Bhupendra Chaudhary, national president of Hindutva organization Hindu Raksha Dal, also known as Pinky Bhaiya, shared this video on social media platform X. He claimed that the people seen assaulting the girl in the video are members of his organization.

He wrote in his post, "These are my workers. Hindu Raksha Dal does what it says. Hindu Raksha Dal has the power to cure the minds of all the cockroaches it finds and it will continue to do so."

A journalist seen in the video described the girl as a 'little girl'.

After the uproar over this incident on social media, Delhi Police itself took cognizance and registered an FIR against four people - Raman Saini, Vivekanand alias Vivek, Kapil Kumar and Ravinder Singh alias Govind Hindu.

A senior police officer from Kamla Market police station told the BBC that all four accused have been arrested.

Officials could not confirm whether the girl seen being assaulted in the video is a minor or not. "We are investigating the matter and trying to contact the victim," he said.

The FIR has been registered under sections 126 (preservation of peace), 115 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 130 (assault) and other relevant sections of the Indian Judicial Code. A senior police officer said that more sections will be added after further investigation.

After the video of the violence went viral, posts were shared from many social media accounts, including that of the Indian Youth Congress, in which the identity of the attackers was revealed.

The post reads, "2 have been identified so far. Both are fringe elements of RSS-affiliated organisations, whose Instagram profiles reveal that they have been continuously spewing venom, and today beat up the daughter under police protection."

However, despite criticism on social media, the people facing allegations of assault did not shy away from revealing their identities.

In a video shared on the Instagram account of accused Kapil Kumar, he and another accused Ravinder Singh are seen.

The title of the video is - "We have treated the cockroaches at Jantar Mantar well."

In the video, he can be heard saying, "We are supporters of Modi and Delhi Police, yet we were detained. We had come to save his honour, yet we were detained."

The BBC tried to contact another accused, Raman Saini, on phone, but his phone was switched off.

BBC also contacted Pinky Bhaiya, but he declined to comment. “I cannot confirm whether these people are associated with our organization or not,” he said.

However, after being caught by the police, Ravinder Singh in a video described himself as a member of the Hindu Raksha Dal. In this video, policemen are seen taking him away.

"Don't bother me. All the big officers know me," he can be heard saying in a video uploaded by ETV Bharat Delhi.

He says, "I will go back and set them straight, these cockroaches. Those who are raising anti-national slogans and abusing the Delhi Police, I will set them straight. Hindu Raksha Dal will not back down."

In another video, Ravinder Singh can be seen slapping a protester.

There is tension in Delhi's Connaught Place. Police are detaining the protesters reaching Central Delhi. Tight security arrangements have been made in the area and a large number of paramilitary forces and police personnel have been deployed.

But a section of the protesters have criticized the Delhi Police.

He says that despite hundreds of protesters being detained, immediate action was not taken against Hindutva organizations like Hindu Raksha Dal.

A senior Delhi Police official said the police are investigating the video that surfaced on social media on Saturday and necessary action will be taken.

This statement of the police has come at a time when many videos have been shared on social media from the accounts of members of Hindutva organizations. In these, he himself is seen claiming to commit violence.

For example, on Saturday, Pinky Bhaiya shared another video on X. It was written along with it-

"I had told you not to tease the Hindu Raksha Dal. Don't leave the Hindu Raksha Dal. These are my warriors who are doing the work of Sanatan Dharma with full strength. We have nothing to do with any politics, but if anyone targets Sanatan, we will take him to where he belongs."

In the days before Saturday's protest, he had also shared several videos in which people were threatened with violence "against Sanatan".

Journalist Dhairya Maheshwari shared a video on Instagram, in which some people are seen surrounding a protester and making him say "sorry".

'The Quint' also interviewed a person named Ritesh Thakur. He described himself as a worker of Bajrang Dal and said that 250 people from organizations associated with it were present in the demonstration.

In the video, he said, "These people have abused Ram and Sita before. We will not let them do it again."

BBC journalists also witnessed such clashes in Central Delhi on 10 October.

A protester said, "Whether it is CJP or Rahul Gandhi, if anyone works to divide the country, we will not step back."

Another person said, "Due to these cockroaches, Delhi is jammed and all work has come to a standstill."

Many videos circulated on social media show tension between the protesters and the people who came to oppose them.

"They are telling us that if we continue to protest, they will beat us. They say we have come here illegally," a protestor clashing with members of right-wing organizations at Indira Chowk in Connaught Place told the BBC.