HOW TO REPORT
If you were hurt or you witnessed excessive force, here is how to report it so it actually counts — through the bodies that can identify the personnel involved and impose consequences. It's slower than posting online, but it's the path that holds power to account and keeps you safe.
1. Preserve your evidence first
Keep the ORIGINAL video/photo on your device — don't crop, re-record, or re-export it; the original file carries the time, date and location data that make it credible.
Note what you remember: time, exact place, what happened, and any visible badge numbers or vehicle numbers.
Get medical treatment and keep every record — the medico-legal report is crucial for a complaint.
Save the contact details of witnesses who will stand by their account.
2. File a police complaint / seek an FIR
You can file a written complaint at the police station and demand a copy with a stamp. For a cognisable offence the police must register an FIR.
If the police refuse, you can send the complaint to the Superintendent of Police, and ultimately move a Magistrate, who can direct the police to register an FIR and investigate.
3. National / State Human Rights Commission
The NHRC hears complaints of human-rights violations by public servants, including custodial and protest violence. Complaints are free and can be filed online. It can demand explanations, order an inquiry, and recommend compensation.
Most states also have a State Human Rights Commission for the same purpose.
4. Get free legal help
NALSA and the State Legal Services Authorities provide FREE legal aid and advice. Their toll-free legal helpline is 15100.
Civil-liberties lawyers and organisations also take up cases of protest and custodial violence — a legal-aid lawyer can help you choose the right forum, including a writ petition in the High Court.
5. Approach the courts
A writ petition in the High Court (or Supreme Court) can seek a court-monitored investigation, preservation of CCTV and deployment records, and identification of the personnel on duty — the lawful way a badge in a video becomes an official identification. Pleas on the police action are already before the courts.
6. Give your footage to journalists
Credentialed newsrooms have legal review and verification desks. Sharing your original footage with a trusted outlet creates public pressure and an independent record — often what pushes the official channels to move.
One safety warning
Do not publicly post a person's name accusing them of a crime, even if you're sure. In India that is defamation and can be turned against YOU, and it risks harming a wrongly-identified person. Route the identification through the courts, the Commission, or a newsroom — bodies with the standing to make it, and the shield to carry it.
This is general guidance to point you to real resources, not legal advice. Procedures change; confirm details with a legal-aid lawyer. PROTESTINDIA.COM is non-partisan and not affiliated with any party or organisation.