Jagriti Rahi
Woman Human Rights Defender
Uttar Pradesh

HRDA has issued an urgent appeal to the National Human Rights Commission of India on February 5, 2020 regarding the harassment and intimidation of Ms. Jagriti Rahi by Uttar Pradesh Police. Ms. Rahi is a social activist and woman human rights defender.
On  January 29, 2020, a non-bailable warrant was issued against Ms. Rahi by the Special Chief Judicial Magistrate, Varanasi under Sections 147, 148, 149, 188, 332, 353, 336, 114, 120(B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 7 of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act (CLA). The FIR filed by the UP Police on January 23, 2020 at the Chawk Police Station (case no: 09/2020) that named 32 persons and 500 to 600 unknown persons for participating in protests on January 23, 2020 named Ms. Rahi, and a note in the FIR referred to her alleged involvement in spreading disharmony and inciting violence during a protest at Beniyabag ground in Varanasi on December 19, 2019.
On January 24,2020, she was subjected to a vilification campaign through media reports that accused her of planning the January 23 protest. Although Mr. Rahi clarified that she was not part of any preparatory meetings of either the January 23 or the December 19, 2019 protest, web portal Amritprabhat and others published reports to the contrary along with her photograph in an attempt to spread rumors.