Delhi journalist who accused ACP of sexual harassment slapped with SC/ST Act for ‘casteist remarks’

AKT Vivek Bhagat. File | Photo credit: Special arrangement

The Delhi Police registered a case against three people, including a freelance journalist, who accused Deputy Commissioner of Police Vivek Bhagat of sexual harassment while covering a protest in the capital on 3 October. The FIR, registered on a police officer’s complaint, alleges caste-based humiliation, intimidation and obstruction of official duty.

Meanwhile, no FIR has been registered yet on the journalist’s complaint of alleged sexual harassment filed more than 10 days ago, which has been handed over to the crime branch for investigation.

The FIR was registered at the Parliament Street police station late on October 13 after Mr. Bhagat lodged his complaint with the Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi district, the same day. It names journalist Gajendra Singh of News Diggy and an unknown person as accused.

The case was registered under Sections 221, 356(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 3(1)(p), 3(1)(q), 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Tribes) Act.

In his complaint, Mr. Bhagat, who is listed as an ACP in Connaught Place subdivision and belongs to the Scheduled Caste community, alleged that the journalist made derogatory remarks about his caste and challenged his designation as an ACP when he referred to his name tag in public.

According to the complaint, Mr. Bhagat and his operator, Constable Ravi Dahiya, allegedly heard the journalist refer to his caste identity and make remarks suggesting that people from his community were involved in tailoring and weaving, questioning how he became an ACP.

The officer said the alleged remarks were made at Buta Singh Roundabout on October 3, where police personnel were deployed to manage a protest against the Election Commission of India. The protesters gathered around 2:30 pm and were asked to disperse in view of the restrictions imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), according to the complaint.

Mr. Bhagat claimed that he initially ignored the remarks and continued with his duty. He further claimed that around 3:00 p.m., when he was making way for a bus that was transporting detained protesters, a female journalist accused him of sexually assaulting her. The complaint alleges that she and her colleagues, including Mr. Singh, repeatedly confronted him and asked how he dared to touch her inappropriately and thereby obstruct his official duties.

The officer also alleged that the journalist, Mr Singh and their colleagues staged a protest outside the Parliament Street police station at around 6.15pm on the same day, raising slogans against him by name, calling him a “sexual predator” and a “potential rapist”. He claimed that protests continued overnight and social media posts and videos accusing him of sexual abuse followed.

The complaint also names Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) members Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das along with Ratna Singh in connection with the social media posts.

Mr. Bhagat claimed that the remarks and subsequent social media posts caused him mental trauma and damaged his reputation.

Further investigation of the case is ongoing.

Published – 14 Oct 2026 8:30 PM IST