Take action against police and halt case against Caravan journalist: Editors Guild

On 16 October, Delhi Police detained and assaulted The Caravan’s staffer Ahan Penkar while he was reporting. ACP Ajay Kumar kicked and slapped him inside the Model Town station premises. Penkar repeatedly told the police that he was a journalist and prominently displayed his press ID. The police forcibly took his phone from him and then deleted all the videos he had recorded while reporting. Penkar was reporting on a protest outside the Model Town police station concerning the alleged rape and murder of a lower caste teenager in North Delhi.

The Editors Guild of India has released a statement condemning the attack and demanding immediate action. The statement is reproduced below. Read The Caravan’s report on the attack here.

Anant Nath, the treasurer of the Editors Guild of India, is the editor of The Caravan.

October 21, 2020

Editors Guild of India is dismayed at the brazen attack by a Delhi Police official on a journalist of The Caravan magazine while he was carrying out his duty as a member of the press. 

On 16 October, Mr. Ahan Penkar was reporting on the alleged rape and murder of a teenaged Dalit girl in North Delhi. The teenaged girl’s family and some student activists had organised a protest outside the Model Town police station. The police detained the protestors as well as Penkar, even when he was performing his professional duty. Despite displaying his press credentials, Penkar was slapped, kicked and detained by the Police for 4 hours. His phone was seized and his reported material including photographs were deleted. 

The egregious assault on Caravan’s reporter violates constitutional principles and media’s right to report freely. EGI demands strict action from the Union Home Ministry and Delhi Police Commissioner against police officials involved in this assault so that such incidents do not take place in the future. Also, it should instruct halting of any case against the journalist.

Penkar is the fourth journalist from The Caravan who has been attacked in the last two months in the Indian capital. 

Seema Mustafa, President

Sanjay Kapoor, General Secretary

Anant Nath, Treasurer