The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to list on Tuesday a plea seeking a Special Investigation Team probe into incidents of targeted gender violence against participants and witnesses of the July 30 'Sansad Chalo' protest at Jantar Mantar, Delhi.
"The urgency is continuous acts of vigilantism, threats of rape and abduction.
CJI Surya Kant agreed to list the matter on Tuesday along with the other petitions concerning the student protest.
According to the petitioners, many women and young girls started receiving threats of rape and abduction after the protest.
The petitioners further refer to reports of women doctors, who were simply giving medical aid without agitating the cause, having been attacked by male personnel.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to list on Tuesday a plea seeking a Special Investigation Team probe into incidents of targeted gender violence against participants and witnesses of the July 30 'Sansad Chalo' protest at Jantar Mantar, Delhi.
Mentioning the matter before the Chief Justice of India, Advocate T Bhalla, for the petitioners, said there was an “urgency” in view of continuing incidents of vigilantism, along with threats of rape and abduction.
"The urgency is continuous acts of vigilantism, threats of rape and abduction. We have already put videos on record. Some videos have come to our notice after filing the petition, which are so bad that I can't even probably mention in open court," the counsel submitted.
CJI Surya Kant agreed to list the matter on Tuesday along with the other petitions concerning the student protest.
Briefly put, the petition seeks redressal of the grievances of not just students, but also women doctors, relief workers, lawyers, police officers and reporters who were manhandled by vigilantes during the protest or continue to be victimized in its aftermath.
It prays for constitution of an SIT to probe the incidents involving not just women, but also members of LGBTQIA community, persons with disabilities, children and elderly, and suggest steps for redressal.
According to the petitioners, many women and young girls started receiving threats of rape and abduction after the protest. Some of them had to leave their houses and go into hiding, while they faced systemic persecution as well. It is highlighted that the incidents are a risk not just to a victim, but also to their family.
Petitioner No.1 claims to be a witness of one such incident, while petitioner No.2 avers that she herself suffered injuries by lathi even though she was just a bystander. Petitioner No.1 alleges that a young girl and her brother were harassed by 4 police personnel while they were returning from the protest site. While 2 of these persons are stated to have roughed up the brother, two are stated to have made obscene remarks at the girl and molested her.
The petitioners further refer to reports of women doctors, who were simply giving medical aid without agitating the cause, having been attacked by male personnel. It is contended that attack on these doctors while they were performing their duty was in contravention of Article 21 of the Constitution.
