Delhi Police Officer Accused of ‘Sexual Harassment’ to Woman Journalist Promoted

A Delhi Police officer accused of sexually harassing a woman journalist during a protest outside the Election Commission of India office has been promoted to the post of Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), along with 11 other officers. The promotions were announced through an official order on Monday.

A senior police officer, however, said the promotion was routine and that the proposal for the promotion had been submitted much earlier. The other officers promoted on Monday are Dr Vikas Shiokand, A Venkatesh, Gursevak Singh, Renu Lata, Vidushi Kaushik, Manu Himanshu, Zakaria Mihir Pravinbhai, Garima Tiwari, Vivek Bhagat, Ashish Kumar and Manish Ladla. On Saturday, October 3, three women journalists accused Delhi Police personnel of sexual harassment while they were covering a protest against the Election Commission at Jantar Mantar.

Delhi Police has received the complaints and forwarded them to the Crime Branch for an impartial investigation. On Sunday, Delhi Police said on its official X account, formerly Twitter, that three women journalists had made allegations of sexual harassment against police personnel deployed during the October 3 protest after the law-and-order situation deteriorated.

The New Delhi district police received the complaints and transferred them to the Crime Branch for a fair and impartial investigation. Following the allegations, several independent journalists staged a protest outside Parliament Street Police Station and demanded that FIRs be filed against the police officers accused of harassment.