‘Amit Shah, Take A Good Look’: Rahul Gandhi Shares Protesters’ Accounts Of Alleged Police Brutality

Addressing the press on Wednesday morning, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi brought with him a few young protesters, who allege police brutality, while giving an account of their harsh treatment while being detained by the Delhi Police.

Rahul Gandhi, speaking on the courage shown by these youth in the face of police violence, said, "This is Hindustan. There is no muslim, caste, man or woman here. There is one protest, one unified voice; it is Hindustan's voice. You (Amit Shah) and the Prime Minister are standing against this voice. Let me give you the solution: Do not stand against this voice. No one can stand against it."

The six protesters alleged that in separate incidents, they were exposed to police abuse and violence. They detailed their experience and showed their wounds while naming police constables who partook in beating not just them but also minors.

A boy named Samarth claimed that while peacefully protesting, he and his friend, Dharmendra, were pushed into Parliament Street police station where 15 to 20 policemen, including some in civil dress, beat up the protestors.

Dharmendra claimed a policeman said, "Because of you protestors we are not able to sleep. Our duty has doubled. You should all stay home". He added that while he was on the detention bus, a different police constable allegedly said, "Now trying calling your leaders, Rahul Gandhi or Neha Bora. No one is coming to get you all."

One content creator who joined the protest claimed to have encouontered armed members from RSS and Bajrang Dal, "I have recorded videos of these goons who showed up with sticks and stone and were threathening us. Despite the Supreme Court precaution that no illegal detentions are to be made, Delhi police detained us on the false claims made by these goons."

The content creator noted that despite female protestors being boarded on the detention buses, there were no female police officers present.

A female student protester with NSUI detailed a female constable's attack on her and her friend. The student alleged injuries to her face, neck and back. The student had to be hospitalised after being released from detainment for suffering a severe ear injury from the officer's continuous attack.

The female student and her classmate from Kerala at Delhi University spoke about the police abuse they endured at the detainment centre. The DU student has lost hearing from one ear after being attacked by the police, claimed Rahul Gandhi.

The student added that she was taken to a basement without CCTV in the detention centre, where she alleges that she was kicked all over her body, including private areas.

Another male protester claimed that the police took them to a detention centre nearly 45km away from Delhi. Here, he alleges, groups of police brutally thrashed the protestors, including minors individually.

"We are speaking up to expose the behaviour of the police," the protestors said. All of the students said that despite undergoing police brutality, they are not deterred in their goal to peacefully protest.

A male protester said, "I request that you please expose this Illegal detention centre. It reminded me of Nazi times. There needs to be a Nuremberg trial in India."

"We are being beaten and abused in detention. Please expose this. The police are trying to intimidate us," added another student.

Closing the account of the students, Rahul Gandhi said, "Amit Shah, take a good look at this. This is India."

"I want to tell students and protestors to record everything and send it to us," Gandhi added, "Once this has passed, we will use this as evidence to punish everyone from Gyanesh Kumar, Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and every single police officer who has abused and intimidated us."

Rahul Gandhi’s press brief comes against the backdrop of a series of brutal police crackdowns on protests and media persons in Delhi over demands for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. On October 10, police detained thousands of demonstrators as authorities moved to prevent a protest organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and student groups over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Opposition leaders and journalists were also among those detained, while security restrictions disrupted movement across parts of the capital.