Two women journalists in Delhi alleged that they were assaulted by Delhi Police personnel inside a police station after they went to cover an event and sought to question Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.
The journalists alleged that the police asked about their religion and assaulted them after learning that they were Muslims.
Journalists Shaheen Khan and Nafisa Khan alleged that police personnel first detained them near the venue of inauguration of a new wing at Max Hospital in Saket before taking them to the Saket police station, where they were allegedly assaulted.
The police, however, denied the allegations, terming them “factually incorrect” and “misleading“, while videos of the journalists went viral on social media, drawing sharp criticism from opposition parties, including the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
In one video, one of the journalists claimed they were repeatedly beaten with batons when they had gone to cover the inauguration by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.
क्या मुख्यमंत्री से सवाल पूछना अब इतना बड़ा अपराध हो गया है कि पत्रकार को पुलिस बेरहमी से पीटेगी?
आज दिल्ली में 4PM की पत्रकार शाहीन के साथ जो हुआ, वह बेहद गंभीर और डराने वाला है.
शाहीन दिल्ली की मुख्यमंत्री रेखा गुप्ता से सवाल पूछने की कोशिश कर रही थीं. शाहीन का आरोप है कि इसी… pic.twitter.com/KB3p3kGKDK
— 4PM News Network (@4pmnews_network) September 3, 2026
“We wanted to question the Delhi Chief Minister. But we were detained and brought to the Saket Police Station. The police teams took us to a room, where they assaulted us brutally,” she alleged.
According to the police, the two women had parked their scooter near the venue, obstructing a designated VVIP route. Police said they repeatedly asked the journalists to remove the vehicle and clear the route, but they refused to comply.
“In view of the security and safety protocol of the VVIP route, both women were taken to the local police station for further enquiry,” the police said.
In a statement, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Anant Mittal said the allegations that the journalists were assaulted for asking questions to the Chief Minister were “totally false, misleading and baseless”.
“Citizens and social media users are advised to refrain from circulating unverified and misleading information,” he added.
The Congress, sharing a video of Shaheen, said that asking questions had become a crime under the BJP government.
“Such treatment of a journalist is absolutely unacceptable, and strict action must be taken against the guilty policemen. However, the chances of that are slim, because—in the BJP government, asking questions has become a crime,” the party said.
महिला पत्रकार शाहीन खान और नफीसा खान के साथ जो हुआ, वह बेहद शर्मनाक है।
वे गृह मंत्री अमित शाह, मुख्यमंत्री रेखा गुप्ता से सवाल पूछना चाहती थीं कि 👇
⦿ 15 साल की बच्ची तन्वी ने इलाज के अभाव में दिल्ली AIIMS में दम क्यों तोड़ा?
⦿ गृह मंत्री जी AIIMS जाने के बजाय निजी… pic.twitter.com/EwhhS6DJoZ
— Congress (@INCIndia) September 4, 2026
The AAP also condemned the alleged incident, saying, “A female journalist was brutally beaten by the police under Home Minister Amit Shah simply because she was asking questions of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. In such a situation, the question is certainly valid: Will the voices of daughters always be suppressed in this manner in the Modi government?”
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj, in a post on X, alleged that the two women journalists were “very brutally beaten” by Delhi Police for asking questions to Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. “Shame on woman CM Rekha Gupta,” Bharadwaj said.
The way two women reporters of @4pmnews_network were beaten by police is very shameful.
I feel all other news reporters & journalists should takeup the matter.
BJP Govt always tests things in Delhi’s Laboratory and then it’s scaled up in every state.
— Saurabh Bharadwaj (@Saurabh_MLAgk) September 4, 2026
