Started putting a black cloth in front of the phone…when the NBT reporter who went to cover the protest was detained by the police

New Delhi: At 4 pm on Monday, a woman reporter from Presswire18 Times (NBT) was going to the office from South Block. While passing near Kartavya Path, she saw that some women were raising slogans and a large number of policemen were present near the police barricades. The NBT reporter went closer to see on what issue the protest was taking place, then a policeman stopped her, he told that he is from the media, then he did not say anything. When she came closer, she saw that about 14-15 women wearing red kurta were raising slogans demanding implementation of women reservation and the police were catching them and putting them in buses. She started making a video.

'Media cannot be stopped from covering protests'

The policemen stopped her from making the video and started putting a black cloth in front of her phone. She protested saying that you cannot stop the media from covering the protest like this. She also showed her media ID card. Even after that they kept stopping her and then tried to snatch her phone, which she protested. There was no woman policeman there, but there were women CRPF jawans. They forcefully snatched her phone and despite her continuous protest and telling that she is from the media, they put her in the bus with the protesters. Even in the bus, she kept saying that you cannot stop a reporter like this and kept showing her ID card. But the bus closed the gate and moved ahead.

'Everyone was sweating in the scorching sun and extreme humidity'

Apart from her, there were 13 women in the bus, all of them were wearing red kurta. When he asked them which organization they were associated with, they told him that they were workers of All India Mahila Congress and were demanding implementation of women reservation and for this they needed time to meet the President. Everyone was sweating in the hot sun and extreme humidity. Noorie Khan is the Kashmir in-charge of All India Mahila Congress and Sheetal Maan is the national observer. She said that we were protesting peacefully for implementation of women reservation, women safety and the Prime Minister's silence on the Manipur issue, but the police forcibly put us in the bus.

'The health of the protesting woman started deteriorating'

On asking where the bus was going, the policeman present in the bus told that it was going to Kapashera police station. Why so far… there was no answer. The protesting women kept raising slogans in the bus and kept singing the bhajan Itni Shakti Humein Dena Data. Razia Bano is the Mewat district president of Mahila Congress and she told that she has won a medal in wrestling in the National Games and has also won many international medals in Taekwondo. Everyone inside the bus was in a bad condition due to the heat. The protesting women demanded water but there was no water. A protesting woman started feeling unwell, her companions told that her sugar level was decreasing. After crossing Dhaula Kuan, women jawans of CRPF stopped the bus and also bought a water bottle and toffee for her. After reaching Kapashera police station, the names and surnames of all the protesters were noted. There were more than 50-60 women protesters who were protesting at Jantar Mantar and they were detained from there. Everyone was released around 6:15 pm.