Independent journalist Rozi has accused ACP Vivek Bhagat of groping and pushing her while she was filming the detention of an AISA activist. The allegation has sparked protests, political condemnation and questions over whether Delhi Police is shielding one of its own officers
BY PC Bureau
New Delhi, October 4: An allegation of sexual misconduct against a Delhi Police assistant commissioner at Jantar Mantar has triggered a confrontation between journalists and the police, with hundreds of journalists staging a sit-in outside Parliament Street police station on Saturday evening. The Cockroach Janta Party demanded the officer’s immediate arrest, while political leaders, including Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, criticised the police over the alleged delay in registering an FIR.
The complainant, independent journalist Rozi, alleges that ACP Vivek Bhagat groped her while she was filming the detention of an AISA activist at Jantar Mantar on Saturday, October 3. She subsequently went to Parliament Street police station to lodge a complaint.
The controversy has since widened into a larger question over whether Delhi Police will register a case against one of its own officers. The dispute intensified amid allegations that police were seeking time to examine the complaint and available video footage before registering an FIR. As of the early hours of Sunday, Delhi Police had not issued a detailed public statement clarifying the status of the complaint.
What the journalist alleges
Rozi, an independent journalist, said the incident occurred while she was covering the detention of AISA activist Neha Bora at Jantar Mantar.
In a video circulated by Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Rozi alleged that ACP Bhagat groped her and then pushed her while she was recording the detention. Social media posts amplifying her account alleged more specifically that the officer squeezed her breast.
These remain allegations and would have to be established through an investigation.
Rozi subsequently went to Parliament Street police station. In the video, she said she had already spent more than three hours at the station and that police had not registered an FIR.
Lawyer Ratna Singh, associated with the Cockroach Janta Party, said Delhi Police took Rozi to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital for a medical examination and subsequently brought her back to Parliament Street police station. Singh and CJP member Saurav Das also said they were going to the station to support her.
The protest was linked to demands for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. AISA president Neha Bora separately alleged that women protesters, journalists and lawyers had been manhandled by male police personnel and that several women had complained of being groped.
Those allegations also require independent verification.
Protest outside Parliame
ACP Vivek Bhagat must be arrested immediately! https://t.co/Wm6OrS5Ix1
— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) October 3, 2026
nt Street police station
By the early hours of Sunday, the dispute had moved from Jantar Mantar to Parliament Street police station.
At around 2 am, Saurav Das said he and Ratna Singh had met Rozi and the station house officer before leaving the police station. He accused Delhi Police of shielding what he called “its sexual predator Vivek Bhagat” and alleged that police had refused to register an FIR.
According to Das, police told them they needed time to examine the written complaint and video evidence before deciding how to proceed. He said Rozi had appealed to supporters to assemble outside the police station at 11 am on Sunday and that the Cockroach Janta Party would stand with her until an FIR was registered.
Dipke’s posts demanding Bhagat’s immediate arrest attracted hundreds of thousands of views. Speaking outside the station, Das said protesters would return at 11 am and demand a copy of the FIR.
Das also claimed that Bhagat had faced previous complaints of a similar nature. That claim could not be independently verified and should not be treated as established fact.
Political pressure
जंतर-मंतर पर एक महिला पत्रकार ने एक पुलिस अधिकारी पर बदसलूकी का आरोप लगाया है।
घंटों से सैकड़ों पत्रकार सिर्फ़ इतनी माँग लेकर बैठे हैं कि FIR दर्ज कर ली जाए। ये तो पुलिस का बुनियादी काम है न? वो भी नहीं किया।
आज ही जंतर-मंतर पर सैकड़ों लोग हिरासत में लिए गए। महिला प्रदर्शनकारियों के साथ बदसलूकी के आरोप हैं। कैमरे छीने गए, पत्रकार घसीटे गए।
और ये पहली बार नहीं है – इससे पहले भी हमने वीडियो सबूतों के साथ देखा है कि पुलिस के अफसर महिलाओं के साथ घिनौनी बदसलूकी करते हैं।
पूरी दिल्ली की महिलाएं, छात्राएं अपनी सुरक्षा को लेकर घबराहट में हैं, सत्याग्रह कर रही हैं – मगर जिस पुलिस पर महिलाओं की हिफ़ाज़त की ज़िम्मेदारी है, वही महिलाओं पर हाथ उठा रही है।
और एक महिला की शिकायत दर्ज करने से जो सरकार डरती है – वो आख़िर किसकी हिफ़ाज़त कर रही है?
दिल्ली पुलिस गृह मंत्रालय के अधीन है। अमित शाह जी, कहाँ हैं आप? जवाब आपको ही देना है।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 3, 2026
The issue quickly drew political intervention.
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said a woman journalist had accused a police officer of misconduct at Jantar Mantar and that hundreds of journalists had waited outside the police station demanding registration of an FIR.
“Isn’t that the police’s basic duty?” Gandhi asked, alleging that the police had not even done that.
He also referred to the detention of protesters at Jantar Mantar, allegations of misconduct against women, the alleged snatching of cameras and the dragging of journalists. Gandhi said video evidence of police misconduct against women had surfaced earlier as well.
He then directed his criticism at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, pointing out that Delhi Police reports to the Union Home Ministry.
“Amit Shah ji, where are you? You have to answer for this,” Gandhi said.
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj focused on what he described as the police response to the complaint. He alleged that senior officers had advised the journalist against filing an FIR and instead offered to have the accused officer apologise, arguing that the officer had worked hard and studied extensively to reach his position.
If accurate, that claim would raise a separate question about whether a potentially criminal allegation was being treated as an internal disciplinary matter rather than being subjected to the ordinary criminal process.
The legal question turns on whether the information supplied to police discloses a cognisable offence.
Under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure, information relating to a cognisable offence is ordinarily required to be recorded as an FIR. The Supreme Court held in Lalita Kumari v Government of Uttar Pradesh that registration of an FIR is mandatory where the information discloses a cognisable offence.
