New Delhi : Prashant Kumar Singh, a painter trained in pastel, watercolour, oil and visual arts, has been documenting the Gen Z protest at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar through his sketches since the movement began. He was also among the protesters who marched towards Parliament on July 20. While five pellet injury cases linked to the July 20 protest have been documented so far, Prashant believes there was at least one more victim.
He said another injured protester arrived at Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital at around 4.30 pm on July 20, shortly after the firing. According to him, the individual has not been identified in media reports. Having seen photographs of the four other documented male victims, Prashant said the person he saw at the hospital was someone else, suggesting the actual number of pellet injuries may be higher. Prashant says he can still feel the pellets beneath the skin of his right arm and chest.
Doctors advised against surgery, warning that removing the remaining fragments would require cutting through muscles and tendons, potentially causing permanent damage. “If they operate, many muscles will be damaged and that will affect me in future,” he told India Today Digital. Some pellets removed immediately after the incident were discarded as medical waste, but several remain embedded in his body and may stay there permanently. Prashant had been visiting the protest site every alternate day to capture key moments through his artwork.
According to him, the situation changed when personnel from the RAF and Delhi Police began pushing protesters back towards Connaught Place, near Mahatma Gandhi Road. Tear-gas shells were fired first, followed by a baton charge. “They were really brutal,” he said. Shortly afterwards, he alleged, security forces opened fire with shotguns loaded with pellets.
Prashant said he was struck in the right arm and chest during the firing and collapsed. Another protester standing nearby was also hit. The two were taken to Lady Hardinge Hospital together, where they received initial treatment. Based on what he witnessed, Prashant believes there was a sixth pellet victim whose identity has not been publicly established. Of the five documented victims, four are men and one is a woman.
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