New Delhi: AAP MP Swati Maliwal has alleged Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s aide attacked her with full force, slapping and kicking her in the chest and abdomen, charges rejected as “baseless” by the party, which accused her of being the face of a BJP conspiracy to frame Kejriwal.
The allegations are part of an FIR registered by the Civil Lines police station here on Thursday against Kejriwal’s personal assistant Bibhav Kumar. Maliwal, a member of the Rajya Sabha, has alleged that she was assaulted by him at the CM’s official residence on May 13.
Hitting back at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Maliwal, a former chief of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), said the party has given in under a “goon’s pressure” and is now questioning her character.
Without naming Kumar, she said, “This goon is threatening the party (AAP) saying that ‘if I get arrested, I will reveal all the secrets'”. Maliwal added that party has taken a “U-turn” two days after it accepted that Kumar had “misbehaved” with her.
In its probe into the incident, the Delhi Police took Maliwal to the CM’s residence to recreate the crime scene, an official said, adding that her statement was also recorded before a magistrate at the Tis Hazari court.
In the FIR, Maliwal claimed that Kumar hit her with “full force again and again” and she was “kicked and slapped seven to eight times”. She also alleged that despite telling him that she was menstruating and in pain, he did not budge.
Addressing a press conference, senior AAP leader Atishi said Maliwal had reached the CM’s residence without an appointment and her intention was to level allegations against Kejriwal.
“Today a video has surfaced that has exposed the lie of Maliwal. In her FIR, she has said she was brutally assaulted and she was in pain, and buttons of her shirt were torn. The video that has surfaced shows an entirely different reality,” she said.
Atishi said the video shows Maliwal “comfortably sitting in the drawing room” and “threatening the security staff”, and that “her clothes were not torn”.
“The video shows her threatening Kumar. The charges levelled by Maliwal are baseless. Maliwal insisted on meeting Kejriwal. She is Rajya Sabha MP and she should know that the CM has a busy schedule. Kumar told her that the chief minister is busy and unable to meet her. She shouted at him, pushed him and tried to enter the residential portion of the CM House,” she claimed.
“The whole incident proves that it was a BJP conspiracy and Swati Maliwal was made its face to frame Kejriwal,” she alleged. Atishi said Kumar has also given a complaint to police against Maliwal.
Reacting to the AAP press conference, Maliwal, in a post on X in Hindi, said, “The leaders who joined the party (AAP) yesterday declared a worker who has been with it for 20 years an agent of the BJP. Two days ago, the party had accepted the truth in a press conference and, today, it has taken a U-turn.”
On Tuesday, senior AAP leader and MP Sanjay Singh had said that the incident with Maliwal was “highly condemnable” and had claimed that Kumar had “misbehaved” with her.
She alleged that today, the party gave in under a goon’s pressure and to save him, “my character was questioned by the entire party”.
Slamming Kejriwal, who is the AAP’s national convener, Union Minister and senior BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman at a press conference here said instead of making a statement on the matter and tendering an apology, he is “shamelessly” moving around with the accused, Bibhav Kumar.
Police said they have collected footage from eight CCTV cameras of the CM house to establish the sequence of the incident. They have also recorded the statements of a few security personnel who were present during the time of the incident.
A police team also went to Kumar’s residence in the Civil Lines area but he was not there.
Half a dozen teams have been formed to trace Kumar, who is suspected to be in Punjab, according to police. Two teams have been sent to Punjab, an officer said.
The video, a minute-long clip, purportedly of the CM’s residence showed Maliwal using expletives and arguing with the security staff.
In the purported video, while the security staff is requesting the MP to leave the living room where she was sitting, Maliwal is heard saying, “Mai tumhari bhi naukri khaungi agar mujhe touch kara toh (I will get you terminated from your job if you touch me).”
In her press conference, Sitharaman said Kejriwal “shamelessly” moving around with Kumar was akin to rubbing salt on a wound. “This is height of shamelessness,” she said.
Citing past instances of accusations of attacking women against several AAP leaders, including its New Delhi Lok Sabha candidate Somnath Bharti, the BJP leader called the AAP “anti-women”.
She said that Madhu Bhaduri, a former IFS officer and a founding member of the AAP, quit the party saying women were not treated as humans in it and that it had a “khap panchayat” mindset.
On Friday, Kumar did not appear before the National Commission for Women (NCW) in connection with the assault case.
When an NCW team along with the Delhi Police again went to serve him a notice on Friday, the occupants of the house refused to accept it.
The NCW, in a post, said “Officers of the NCW, along with the ACP of Civil Lines, New Delhi, attempted to serve a Notice of Hearing to Mr. Bibhav Kumar at his residence. When the occupants of the house refused to accept the notice, the officers affixed it on the gate of his residence.
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