Student influencer targeted in Jantar Mantar attack, father injured

A student influencer faced threats at Jantar Mantar, and her father was injured

NEW DELHI: A Class X student whose short videos went viral during Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests said Friday she was the original target of a group that had come armed with sticks to Jantar Mantar. Speaking to TOI Friday after a CJP team protested at Parliament Street police station and demanded an FIR against Swatantra Bhardwaj, who claimed responsibility for an attack on her father, she said it was ironical that her demand for justice was met after the alleged attacker had bragged on a video about it. TOI is withholding her name because she is a minor. The student, who identifies herself as an Ambedkarite influencer, started her YouTube channel in 2023 and runs an Instagram account with the same name. Her videos capturing reactions of students affected by paper leaks and delayed recruitment exams and demanding accountability resonated widely. During the CJP protests, her channel became a key source for online updates about the Jantar Mantar. Alleging she had faced abuse online and was hounded for speaking up, she said questions directed at her since Bhardwaj’s video surfaced online were about the injuries her father had suffered, instead of whether she had got justice. “It’s sad that I have to justify my father’s injuries to people because police keep calling it a ‘simple injury’,” she said. Describing the attack on her father on June 23, she added, “Some people came with the intention of attacking me at night, but my father and others shielded me. Later, the same people came again and attacked my father with a kada (thick metal bangle) and my father’s skull cracked open. He was bleeding profusely. ” The next day, she alleged, she saw the men – among them Bhardwaj who she didn’t know by name then – roaming freely at the protest site at the same spot where they attacked her father. She also posted a video of the same on her Instagram handle. After the attack, she stood on the dais alongside CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and requested the authorities for speedy justice. Recently, a video surfaced in which Bhardwaj claimed nothing could happen to him. In the clip, Bhardwaj is seen saying he “cracked open the skull” of the influencer's father because he did not like what his daughter was doing at the protest and on her YouTube channel. “The question should not be how badly my father was injured but why there was no action in the case for such a long time. When we got an FIR registered, Bhardwaj should have been charged under sections of attempt to murder,” she said. The 16-year-old, who attends a govt school, said the attack on her father left a traumatic impact on her and she was scared of going to school for a long time. “I was afraid that someone could be following me or I could be attacked. I kept delaying re-joining school till my parents convinced me that I would be safe,” she added. “I wanted to talk about things no one was paying attention to, like exam paper leaks and recruitment exam delays. I wanted to raise my voice against it. So, I read books, I read Ambedkar, understood his thought process, and kept myself abreast with all the latest political developments so that I could educate others,” she said.