Protester may need ear surgery after alleged assault in detention, medical reports show

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Updated - October 18, 2026 03:42 am IST - NEW DELHI

Fidal Royas’ medical reports indicate that there is damage to the ear drum of his right ear. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Fidal Royas travelled the length of the country from his hometown in Kerala to Delhi to fight for democracy and demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. He returned home 11 days later to seek treatment for severe ear injuries that may require surgery after having been hit, kicked, and slapped while detained by the Delhi police on October 11.

The 27-year-old has recently completed a teachers’ training course to teach in lower and upper primary schools. He reached Delhi on the night of October 1, and participated in the protest on Gandhi Jayanti the next day, and then again on October 10. He was detained on both days, but did not face any assault.

On October 11, however, as the police cracked down on attempts to mobilise protest across the national capital, he was injured after being “hit and slapped multiple times on his face and ear”. He was allegedly attacked after the police spotted him recording a video about police violence.

Mr. Royas’ medical reports indicate that there is damage to the ear drum of his right ear. Citing his testimony, the medical reports from Government Medical College, Kozhikode, say that he faced an “assault by police officers from Delhi”.

The medical report states that he was hit multiple times on his right cheek, hand, back, and all over the body. He has been diagnosed with normal to mild hearing loss due to a perforation in his right ear. He has been given medication and advised follow-ups. The doctors will confirm if he needs surgery within the next two weeks.

On October 11, Mr. Royas was detained from Connaught Place and held in a bus. He said, “By that time, the police had started hitting people and someone was making a video of it and I was talking in that video about the attack. The police saw this and they took the bus to a place about five minutes from there.”

He said that one police officer stepped out and told five or six others that he had recorded a video. “They tried to take me outside. I understood that they were going to hit me and I held on to the bars of the cell and didn’t let go.” Purported videos of the incident show him being violently dragged out of the detention bus.

“As soon as I stepped out, they started hitting me. Five or six policemen surrounded me and started kicking me with their boots,” Mr. Royas alleged.

When they got back inside the bus, he was slapped across his ears again. “I could hear a high-pitched sound from my right ear and it was hurting really bad and I just sat down in the bus after that,” he added.

Mr. Royas said that he was taken to a ground in Mahipalpur and then let off around 7 p.m. When he was taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi, there were delays in getting medical reports from the Central government-run hospital.

“Since it was night, there was no specialised care and treatment was not completed. So, we decided to go to Kerala and do the rest of the treatment,” he said.

A number of protesters have said that they were denied reports of their injuries and treatment in Delhi hospitals, while others have had to fight for copies of their medico-legal case files, and other hospital reports. In some cases, they were given their reports and later told that it was “given by mistake”.

Published - October 15, 2026 10:33 pm IST

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