'Women Ought to be Released After Sunset': Modi Govt Under Fire as Student Leader Neha Bora Slams Illegal Overnight Detentions in Anti-SIR Stir

Student leader and All India Students' Association (AISA) representative Neha Bora has mounted a scathing attack on the Modi government and Delhi Police following her release from overnight custody, questioning the statutory authority under which law enforcement held female demonstrators in police stations past sunset. Bora was detained alongside dozens of youth activists during demonstrations against the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, which has triggered widespread outrage over mass voter list deletions.

Addressing the media following her release, Bora challenged the legality of the police machinery's actions, emphasizing that statutory procedural protections explicitly prohibit holding individuals, particularly women, in detention overnight without formal arrest and magistrate orders. "Under what authority is this justified? By what law or order is it permissible to keep detainees held in custody all night long? Legally, individuals, especially women, ought to be released after sunset, yet this is being disregarded," Bora said, describing how ordinary citizens exercising basic democratic rights are treated as if they were hardened criminals.

The detention was marred by severe procedural violations and denial of legal access. Legal defense counsel spent over five to six hours searching multiple police facilities across the capital before finally tracing Bora to the RK Puram police station near midnight. Bora alleged that while officers aggressively demanded her personal details, she was denied phone calls and access to legal counsel for hours, directly contravening constitutional guarantees and Supreme Court guidelines governing detention protocols.

Bora also condemned the official narrative weaponized by the ruling establishment, which has sought to label peaceful student assemblies as sources of "chaos and anarchy." Pointing out that it was the administration that brought central Delhi to a standstill with barricades, road closures, and preemptive detentions, she argued that the state is attempting to divert attention from electoral integrity. Calling for an immediate halt to the SIR drive and the impeachment of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, student groups maintain that arbitrary detentions and procedural shortcuts by the police will not deter citizens from demanding accountability over voting rights.