As many as 30 students and workers, including members of Himkand, an environmental collective, were detained and beaten on Thursday following their protest outside the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) office, demanding the resignation of the MCD commissioner. The protest came ahead in light of the Satya Niketan PG collapsed calamity, claiming the lives of at least seven people. The protestors have been protesting for the past 12 days. Among those detained and beaten was a trans woman identified as Kranti, whose clothes were ripped by male police personnel.
“We were taken to Kamla Market police station, where they divided us into separate groups, keeping the men and women apart on the pretext of checking,” they said while talking to FoEJ Media.
We all were kept on a different floor of the police station and were not aware of who was, and few were continuously beaten,” they added.
“We were separated based on gender, and because they did not know where to place me, they tore my clothes,” they said.
“They all knew I am a trans woman, and I should be handled by female police officers, but males were appointed,” they said.
“My entire kurti was torn off,” they added.
On Thursday, the protesters were present at the MCD office, following which they were taken to the Kamla Market police station. At the police station, they were manhandled, shoved, and pushed. There were about 20 police personnel present, with the majority being men. As highlighted by the Wire, the phones of those who recorded the scuffle were snatched and returned only after the police had stopped.
The wire further reports that the protestors went to the commissioner’s office, as compensation has not yet been given and the rubble has still not been removed from the area.
Protestors were let go after three hours of their arrival, and their names were noted down. However, Kamla Market SHO Sanjay Kumar Singh denied violence and any wrongdoing and said, and the Wire quoted.
“They were protesting without permission and were blocking traffic. Section 163 BNS was imposed. We requested them to move.”
“They could have obtained an NOC,” he added.
