New Delhi- Delhi Police is facing mounting scrutiny after two women journalists, Shaheen Khan and Nafisa Khan, associated with digital news platform 4PM News Network, alleged that they were detained and physically assaulted by police personnel while covering an event attended by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in south Delhi's Saket area.
The allegations triggered a strong reaction from journalists' organisations, opposition parties and civil-society groups, while an overnight protest at Saket Police Station continued into the early hours of Friday, with supporters demanding registration of an FIR against the police personnel accused by the journalists.
At the centre of the controversy is a sharply disputed account of what happened on Thursday, September 3. The journalists and their news organisation say the incident began when Shaheen attempted to ask questions to Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. Delhi Police, however, has rejected that version and said the two women were taken to the police station because they allegedly obstructed a designated VVIP route.
The incident comes against the backdrop of previous government action involving 4PM News Network. In May 2025, the Centre ordered the blocking of the platform's YouTube channel on grounds cited as national security and public order. The channel's editor-in-chief, Sanjay Sharma, challenged the decision in the Supreme Court, which issued notice to the Centre and other respondents. The government subsequently withdrew the blocking order.
Shaheen Khan and Nafisa Khan had gone to the Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital in Saket to cover the inauguration of a new wing. The event was attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.
According to Shaheen's account, she was attempting to question the Chief Minister when police personnel intervened. She alleged that she and Nafisa were stopped, their phone was taken away and they were taken to Saket Police Station.
Speaking to ThePrint, Shaheen said that she had initially gone to the area after learning about the VVIP arrangements and decided to cover the event. She said she had been questioning the government's attention to a private hospital while government hospitals continued to face problems.
The journalists' account is that what began at the venue continued at the police station, where they allege they were assaulted.
The controversy escalated after 4PM News Network released a video showing Shaheen inside a police station. In the video, she alleged physical assault and mental harassment and showed injury marks on herself and on Nafisa. The footage of the two women, particularly visible bruising and Nafisa appearing to be in considerable distress, was subsequently widely circulated on social media.
Shaheen alleged that she and Nafisa were taken into a room at the police station where they were beaten. She further alleged that police personnel asked her name and that the treatment became more severe after they heard the surname “Khan.”
She also alleged that when a call came to her phone and a Muslim name appeared on the screen, a woman police officer questioned whether she was Muslim. Shaheen said that after she confirmed her religious identity, the alleged treatment became harsher. The Print reported her account that a woman officer slapped her before the two were taken into a room where she alleged they were beaten.
The video also showed Nafisa with visible injury marks. According to reports, the journalists subsequently went to AIIMS, New Delhi, for medical examination and medico-legal reports.
Delhi Police has denied that the women were assaulted for asking questions.
In a statement attributed to DCP (South) Anant Mittal, police said the two women had parked their scooter near a designated VVIP route and allegedly refused repeated instructions to move it and clear the route.
Police said they were therefore taken to the local police station for further inquiry in view of VVIP security arrangements. The police described the allegations that the women were assaulted for asking questions to the Chief Minister as “factually incorrect and misleading.”
ThePrint reported that Delhi Police initially put out this explanation on X, but that post was subsequently deleted. The police version nevertheless continued to be cited by senior officers in response to questions about the incident.
The incident has drawn an unusually broad response from journalist organisations.
The Press Club of India, Indian Women's Press Corps, Delhi Union of Journalists, Press Association and Kerala Union of Working Journalists jointly condemned the alleged assault and called for punitive action against the Delhi Police personnel involved, including officials posted at Saket Police Station.
The press bodies have called for a free and fair investigation into the allegations. Their intervention has added institutional pressure on Delhi Police to establish what happened inside the police station and whether any police personnel used excessive force against the journalists.
The case has also raised questions about the safety of journalists while covering political events involving senior constitutional and government functionaries.
The controversy moved beyond social media on Thursday night.
All India Students' Association (AISA) President Neha Bora and other activists reached Saket Police Station in solidarity with Shaheen and Nafisa and demanded registration of an FIR against the police personnel accused of assaulting them. AISA said police were refusing to receive the complaint and called for accountability.
Reports from the police station during the night said supporters, including activists from the Congress and Left parties, remained there in solidarity with the journalists. The two journalists also staged an overnight sit-in at the station, demanding that their complaint against the alleged assailants be formally registered.
The protest reportedly continued into the early hours of Friday, with slogans being raised and supporters pressing police to register an FIR.
The Congress also publicly condemned the alleged assault.
The party shared the video of Shaheen and Nafisa and called for action against the police personnel involved. Congress Rajya Sabha MP and AICC Minority Department chairman Imran Pratapgarhi said that the party's minority department legal team was present at Saket Police Station and that he was in contact with Shaheen.
The Congress demanded that the alleged assault be investigated and that those responsible face action.
AAP leaders also criticised the incident. Delhi AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj described the alleged assault as unacceptable, while Somnath Bharti called for intervention by the Delhi Lieutenant Governor.
With both sides presenting fundamentally different accounts, CCTV footage, medical records, eyewitness accounts and any available video recordings could become important in determining what happened. The journalists and supporters have called for preservation of CCTV footage from both the venue and the police station. The demand is significant because the central dispute concerns not merely whether the journalists were taken to the police station, which both sides acknowledge, but what happened before, during and after their detention. The journalists' medical examination and medico-legal documentation could also become relevant to the investigation because the women have alleged physical assault and displayed visible injury marks.
The incident has acquired a wider significance because the journalists say they were targeted while performing their professional duties and because Shaheen has specifically alleged that the treatment worsened after police personnel became aware of her Muslim identity. Those claims have not been independently established, and Delhi Police has denied them.
At the same time, the 2026 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders ranks India 157th among 180 countries, with a score of 31.96. RSF classifies India's press-freedom situation as “Very Serious.” The index is a broader assessment of the country's media environment and does not establish the facts of this particular incident.
The Saket episode therefore presents two separate questions that should not be conflated: first, whether the journalists were unlawfully assaulted or mistreated; and second, what the incident says about the broader environment in which journalists operate.
For now, the factual dispute remains unresolved. The next decisive step is whether Delhi Police registers the journalists' complaint and conducts an investigation capable of independently establishing what happened inside Saket Police Station.
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