Hospital Record Confirms Gunshot Injury, Protester Says Security Forces Shot at Her on July 20
New Delhi: A protester has said that she sustained gunshot injuries during the youth protests in Central Delhi on July 20, The Hindu has reported. Multiple pellet gun injuries have been reported from that day but this is the first gunshot claim. Almost a day after this news was published, the Delhi Police has said that the claims "are not corroborated by the MLC findings."
The Hindu's report by Ashok Kumar says that the 32-year-old woman works at a private firm in Millennium City in Gurugram. Identifying her as 'Nutan,' the report says that she has since returned to Ranchi, her hometown.
The Hindu spoke to her over phone.
Nutan told the paper that she was injured “quite severely”, “needed stitches” and that her "ear had practically been torn off”.
The discharge summary issued for her by the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital, which the Hindu has seen, said she suffered “trauma to right ear by gunshot”.
The Delhi Police, however, has claimed that Nutan’s Medical Legal Report found that the injuries were caused by a “blunt weapon” and not a firearm, the report said.
Nutan told the paper that she was with other protesters next to a steel lion statue in the upper section of a park near Jantar Mantar, away from the main protest site, when she came in the way of firing from below.
“I can’t say for certain if I was the specific target, but the gun was aimed in our direction,” she is quoted as having said.
"We were all fleeing together when the shot was fired, and it grazed right past my ear,” she further said.
The report notes that Nutan's ability to hear stopped and she was bleeding profusely. She flagged down an ambulance on the main road and was taken to RML Hospital, where she underwent a two-hour surgery. Even though the surgery was a serious one, Nutan alleged that the doctors discharged her within 15 minutes of the surgery and told her to leave.
Nutan said, "Two people had their guns aimed right at us. They were wearing blue uniforms. The person involved wasn’t wearing a name plate."
She also alleged that she saw police personnel with minor injuries being given stretchers inside the hospital.
To compound her troubles, as Nutan attempted to return to RML Hospital to get a change of wound dressing over two days, she faced difficulties commuting from Gurugram due to roadblocks.
Delhi Police's fact check
At 5.24 pm on July 29, Delhi Police tweeted the following message under the title "FACT CHECK":
"Claims circulating on social media that a protester sustained gunshot injuries during the July 20, 2026 protest in Central Delhi are not corroborated by the MLC findings.
"MLC records a lacerated wound in front of the right tragus, with the nature of injury described as blunt. As per doctor's opinion, it is simple injury and there is no evidence of gunshot injury.
"Therefore, the claim of gunshot injury is not supported by the medical findings on the MLC.
"The public is advised to verify information through authentic sources before sharing such claims."
This is the same claim that the Hindu had attributed to the Delhi Police in its report as well. The police fact-check does not clarify why the RML Hospital report notes "gunshot" trauma.
Note: This report was updated with the Delhi Police's fact-check claim.
This article went live on July twenty-eighth, two thousand twenty six, at forty minutes past eleven in the morning.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
