Sexual Assault on Women Protestors: Statement of Condemnation
On 10 October 2021, two women students Shreya Kapoor Banerjee and Neha Tiwari were subjected to brutal sexual assault by Delhi Police personnel as a way to show them their 'place' because they were part of a protest outside Home Minister Amit Shah's house demanding removal of Ajay Mishra Teni, accused as co-conspirator in Lakhimpur Kheri Massacre of farmers, from his post as a Union Minister and deputy of Amit Shah. ...
Women personnel of the Delhi Police lifted the clothes off one of the woman protester. They kicked another protester in her vagina while dragging her through road. After they were pushed inside the police bus for detention, and thus were already in custody, the police brutally and repeatedly kicked one of them in her private parts, telling them “We will show you your place.” Two other women protesters were also physically attacked while being in custody of police. This sexual assault was compounded by the fact that it was performed in front of male Delhi Police personnel who stood watching as voyeurs.
It is clear to us that these were not isolated acts committed by some rogue Delhi Police personnel. The manner in which the violence was meted out identically to both women, shows that the women personnel have received training and instructions to treat women protestors in this fashion “to show them their place.”
Women all over India reject this “place” of humiliation and sexual assault by the boots of power.