Zayn Marie — an actor whose father is filmmaker Mansoor Khan and whose uncle is Aamir Khan — spent roughly an hour in police custody in Mumbai on Saturday alongside her cousin Imran Khan, also an actor, and his girlfriend Lekha Washington. All three were taken in during a demonstration directed at Gyanesh Kumar.
The following day, photographs showing marks on her body were posted to social media by Zayn. A video clip posted by Zayn to Instagram that Sunday captured visible marks on her arm, fingers, and legs, with a written message in the caption addressing the theme of fear. Facing the camera directly, Zayn urged viewers not to let fear be driven so deep that none remains, while she posted online that the footage laid bare the actions of the state.
Zayn had previously posted video material recording her time in custody together with Imran Khan and Lekha Washington. All three individuals were detained during a demonstration held at August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai. Video and still images of Imran, Lekha, and Zayn being placed into a police vehicle and taken from the scene circulated widely on social media during that Saturday afternoon.
Charges against the trio were dropped, and all three left custody the same day. Once freed, the performers turned to their social media accounts to post updates about what had happened and describe their encounters with officers.
A video posted to Instagram by Lekha Washington on Saturday evening conveyed that they had come through the ordeal unharmed after their release. Images she shared to her Instagram Story showed her with her arms around both Imran Khan and Zayn after the three of them had returned together.
In a video shared ahead of that account, Lekha noted that the difficulties did not end upon her release, stating that Mumbai police officers are said to have reached out to drivers asking them not to take her as a passenger on the way home.
Video posted to Zayn's Instagram Stories that afternoon captured the performers being loaded into a police vehicle, with no word given to them about where they were headed. In a video statement, Imran Khan described being transported in a police van for roughly two hours with no explanation offered for the detention.
Seated inside the vehicle, Zayn voiced opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, while also calling for Gyanesh Kumar to vacate his position. Upon arriving at the station, Zayn told reporters that the three of them were detained without anyone offering a reason for the hold. Zayn told reporters that repeated questions directed at the officer about the grounds for their detention had yielded no answer.
In one clip, a brief announcement of "two minutes" preceded a phone call that stretched on for hours, while separate footage captured Imran and Zayn putting questions to officers about the grounds for their detention. The officers left without responding, and Imran was heard calling after them with a shout of "Jai Hind!" Upon choosing to leave, the group was reportedly trailed by an officer.
Authorities in Mumbai took a number of demonstrators into custody across a two-day march held on Saturday and Sunday. Participants called for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over what they described as irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. An inquiry into the revision exercise drew the dispute into broader public view.
Rallies demanding answers over the reported irregularities drew participants to multiple cities, among them Mumbai and Delhi. No prior approval for assembling at August Kranti Maidan had been obtained, according to a position put forward by the Mumbai Police. Staff at CJP told reporters they had forwarded an email to the relevant authorities seeking approval for the activity, yet no reply had come back to them.
Upwards of 4,000 people gathered at Jantar Mantar — the area set aside for demonstrations — and at surrounding locations across Delhi were taken into custody in connection with the protest.
