A prison-like bus, an unknown location: A day in detention with Neha Bora

Detention of protesters in India, including minors, raises concerns about human rights and freedom of assembly.

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The protest, led by the All India Students’ Association (AISA), began at exactly 2.30 pm from RK Ashram Marg metro station. The call for the demonstration was announced publicly only 30 minutes before it began. Close to a hundred activists and protesters gathered quickly and began marching. Even as the group moved briskly, security forces began closing in, barricading the roads and preventing more protesters from joining.

By the time they neared Connaught Place, Neha joined and broke into a run. A chase unfolded. At Connaught Place reporters were stopped and forcefully told to step back. Detention buses moved in quickly. Unlike the other times when AISA activists and Neha have been detained, on October 11 the security forces ensured there would be no visuals of the detention that was about to take place.

Inside the barricaded area, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and Delhi Police aggressively pushed, shoved and groped the protesters as they divided the men and women into separate groups, out of sight from each other. Then everyone was told to kneel on the road. The phones of some activists were snatched away.

The detention bus was different from the usual ones. It had blue metal railings dividing the inside into three cells, each of which could be latched from outside and could fit five or six detainees. Even as the women filled the bus, there were no female security personnel in sight. Male officers asked the women to step into the cells so they could latch them from outside, but the women resisted and refused.

Reporting status

This original NewNWS report was drafted from the cited source material and passed a second evidence check. Claims that remain the account of one publisher are attributed in the source disclosure below.