India’s police investigate sexual harassment allegations during protests

Indian police are probing allegations of sexual harassment against officers during protests in New Delhi against the country's Election Commission, reports say. The demonstration began on Friday, with protesters demanding the immediate resignation of Election Commission chief Gyanesh Kumar, who is accused of wrongdoing related to a voter-roll revision that removed millions of names from the electoral lists.

The Election Commission has denied these claims and stated that Kumar has not commented on the matter. On Saturday, three female journalists accused police officers of sexual harassment when they were detained near Jantar Mantar, a government-designated protest site in New Delhi. The police have vowed to conduct a fair and impartial inquiry into the allegations.

In a video shared online, one complainant alleged that a police officer pushed and inappropriately touched her. CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke called for the immediate arrest of the accused officer, while left-wing activist Neha Bora urged protesters to march to India Gate. Opposition politicians have accused the Election Commission of operating under the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and have announced plans to march to the Election Commission on Tuesday, followed by rallies across the country to "save democracy" on October 10.