India News | Journalist Files Complaint Against Rahul Gandhi over Alleged Protest Misconduct

New Delhi [India], October 17 (ANI): Journalist Richa Parashar has lodged a formal criminal complaint with the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), New Delhi District, seeking the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, along with several others.

The complaint stems from an incident that allegedly occurred on October 12, while Parashar was on assignment covering a protest led by Rahul Gandhi near the Supreme Court premises.

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Earlier, she alleged that she was "manhandled" and violently shoved by Rahul Gandhi and his security during a chaotic exit from the Supreme Court during the protest march on Monday, an incident that resulted in physical injuries and a traumatic medical emergency for the reporter, who is currently in her first trimester of pregnancy.

For Richa Parashar, what began as a routine professional assignment, capturing a political protest, transformed into a desperate struggle.

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“I set my microphone, and all of a sudden, in just two seconds, everything happened. It is clearly visible in my video: Rahul Gandhi moved forward and held my hand—and he pulled it. He pulled it, and I felt his power. He pulled, and in that same second, his guards pushed me. It is clearly visible in the videos on the internet… Look at my phone; it's shattered. I was shouting, 'Sir, I am being pushed. Sir, we are leaving. Please don't push.' I was requesting him, 'Please don't push, sir.' And in two seconds, I was pushed. There were stairs at the Supreme Court; I fell on the stairs," she said.

The reporter described a harrowing scene where allegedly her pleas for safety were not only ignored but actively drowned out by the party cadres chants of "Rahul Gandhi Zindabad."“So, I fell, the phone fell, but since the microphone was on my collar, it was recorded. I got up and was shouting, 'My microphone has fallen,' and his people were telling me, 'Hey, where did you fall?' I said, 'It's recorded on my camera. You cannot suppress a journalist. I was standing in a large crowd and could not breathe. After that, I was saying there that Rahul Gandhi pushed me. Rahul Gandhi pushed me; he was just behind me. And his people were shouting 'Rahul Gandhi Zindabad, Rahul Gandhi Zindabad' to suppress my voice,” she claimed.

“And I was shocked because I felt that as a person, there would be someone there who would ask, 'Are you okay? Take some water, move to the side.' Someone should have said, 'Are you okay?' But no one said anything. I could not process it; I was sitting and crying. I shouted on camera, and then I started sitting and crying because, as a woman in the first trimester of pregnancy, I didn't know what the situation would be. I fell on my stomach,” she added.

The reporter finally made it to the emergency room at Delhi's Gangaram Hospital, where she was examined for her injuries. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)