Police Brutality Allegations Surface Amid Noida Factory Workers’ Protests

Evidence has emerged contradicting Noida police claims that a viral video showing officers assaulting female factory workers was “morphed or AI-generated.” Through geolocation analysis, eyewitness accounts, and on-site verification, the incident has been confirmed to have occurred in Noida’s Sector 6 during wage protests on April 13.

Two young professionals working in the area witnessed the events firsthand. “It was lunch time and I was on the balcony of my firm’s office,” one stated. “The police officials arrived here and started beating up people.”

The second eyewitness noted that most of those being assaulted were women workers. “When the officials charged them, one of them shouted at them that assaulting them was a violation of their rights. She demanded to deal with women police officials. But those officials did not relent.”

According to the witnesses, as officers continued striking her with lathis (batons), the woman defiantly called out, “Keep beating me. Let’s see how much you can manage.” The police subsequently left without detaining any of the women workers, although authorities have since arrested 396 persons on charges of rioting and criminal use of force.

The incident came to wider attention when video footage emerged online two days later showing police officers physically assaulting women protesters. The footage was widely shared across social media platforms, including by the Uttar Pradesh Congress, who alleged it showed Noida police lathi-charging and manhandling female workers during the wage protests.

The Gautam Budh Nagar district police commissionerate quickly denied these allegations, claiming the video “appears to be morphed or AI-generated and does not seem to be from Noida, but rather from some other location.” Commissioner Laxmi Singh did not respond to requests for comment on these claims.

Multiple lines of evidence, however, establish that the incident did indeed occur in Noida. Geolocation analysis of the video revealed four key markers: a “Simplex” signboard, a building with a saffron-colored shed across the street, a structure with a bluish-green exterior, and a garlanded pole. These features were matched to Simplex Packaging Limited in Sector 6 and the office of Kohinoor International Private Limited directly across from it.

On-site verification confirmed the existence of all these landmarks. The bluish-green building is positioned opposite Kohinoor International, with the Simplex office about twenty meters down the road. The distinctive pole with its garlanded white cutout stands directly in front of Kohinoor International.

Further corroborating evidence came from a Press Trust of India (PTI) photograph published by several news outlets on April 13-14. The image, captioned “Police personnel resort to a lathi charge on protesters demanding a salary hike in Noida,” shows officers approaching and raising batons against women wearing the same attire as those seen in the video.

This photograph was taken in front of Samvardhana Motherson International Limited’s factory, an automobile manufacturing facility whose workers participated in the wage protests. This factory is located adjacent to Kohinoor International. According to eyewitnesses, the women being assaulted in the video work at the Samvardhana Motherson factory, though this could not be independently verified.

Local residents identified one of the officers in the video as sub-inspector Prabhat Kumar, who regularly patrols Sector 6. When approached for comment, Kumar declined to speak about the allegations. His colleague, Shailendra Kumar, who heads the local police chowki (outpost) about one kilometer from the incident site, defended him saying, “Prabhat does not have a personal enmity with anyone.”

Shailendra Kumar claimed he had not seen the video but alleged there was significant violence by factory workers on April 13. “Some women threw rocks at the police. One of the officials was injured and a police bike was burnt,” he said. However, when asked whether the women in the video—who appear to be standing peacefully—were responsible for this violence, Kumar declined to comment.

The case highlights growing tensions between industrial workers demanding higher wages and authorities in Noida, an important manufacturing hub in Uttar Pradesh. It also raises serious questions about police accountability and the treatment of peaceful protesters, particularly women, during labor disputes.