Comedian Raunaq Rajani has said this Mumbai Police excessive use of force during a protests last week, leaving his wife with broken ribs. The couple joined one of several protests across the country demanding the resignation of the Union education minister. Dharmendra Pradhan.
Raunaq Rajani shares what happened at Shivaji Park
In a video shared on Instagram on July 26, Raunaq Rajani said that on July 22, he and his wife were arrested by the police while they were “collecting people illegally” at a protest in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park. “My wife has broken her ribs because of the protests in Mumbai. She was broken by a police officer,” he said in the video.Explaining the arrest, Rajani said, “On July 22, 2026, my wife and I were arrested by the police while they were illegally gathering people at the Shivaji Park protest. You’ve probably seen pictures of us all in a police car. Pushing in with brute force. Then I began to twist my neck. He ended up hurting his ribs. “He added that initially he chose not to be seriously injured, considering that others had faced serious problems with the police. However, when the pain continued for two days, a doctor’s visit confirmed the fracture.
Raunaq Rajani shares video evidence
Raunaq Rajani included footage of the incident, saying that things escalated when he and his wife tried to stop the police from arresting the child. He shared a video where people can be heard shouting, “Chodo isko! Chhodo isko!”According to Mr. Rajani, a police officer in khaki uniform pinned him to the ground and then beat his wife in the arrested bus. He also said that the constable who was wearing a red shirt forcibly pushed his wife into the police car, despite the constable’s mother telling him, Madam ko nikkali.Rajani also said that the footage inside the bus shows the same police officer in khaki uniform beating his wife in the ribs. “Now the same policeman who pinned me down, who is wearing khaki, is entering… you will see how the man wearing khaki pushed my wife in the ribs,” he said and added that he was holding his wife’s hand when the police separated them.
Raunaq Rajani criticizes the police, complains
At the end of his tenure, Rajani criticized what he described as the worst of the Mumbai police. “These nationwide protests have started because the government has misused police machinery and used it to beat innocent people. And when we stood up for that exact cause in Mumbai, the police, instead of backing down, tried to double down and do the same,” he said.He added, “We don’t pay our taxes for the police to beat us! They have to protect us!”Rajani confirmed that he and his wife have lodged a complaint with the Shivaji Park police station and are awaiting a response to register an FIR. The Mumbai police had yet to respond to the allegations at the time of writing.