New Delhi: The accused, who has been arrested, asked her to sit in his car, made lewd gestures with his hands and then – when she confronted him — dragged her for 10 to 15 metres with her arm stuck in the car window. The assault took place opposite the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the heart of Delhi.
Maliwal took to Twitter to share her ordeal. “Late last night I was inspecting the situation of women’s security in Delhi. A driver of a car molested me in a drunken state and when I caught hold of him, he locked my hand in the mirror of the car and dragged me. God saved life. If the Chairperson of the Women’s Commission is not safe in Delhi, then imagine the situation,” Maliwal said.
The Delhi Police has registered a case on the basis of the DCW chief’s complaint and arrested the 47-year-old man. The accused has been identified as Harish Chandra, a resident of South Delhi’s Sangam Vihar.
Medical tests of both Chandra and Maliwal have been conducted. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), South District, Chandan Chowdhary told ThePrint that Chandra was drunk at the time of the incident.
Chowdhary said: “We have registered an FIR under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code and 185 of Motor Vehicle Act has been registered at Kotla Mubarak Pur. Further investigation is on.”
The police were called after 3 am Thursday and told that the accused – driving in a white Baleno car — had made lewd gestures and dragged a woman in front of AIIMS.
A patrolling cop car saw Maliwal on the pavement opposite AIIMS’ Gate 2 and stopped to inquire whether she was in distress. They did not know it was the DCW chief at that time.
Maliwal, with her team, was out at that hour assessing the force’s alertness in light of the recent Sultanpuri hit-and-run incident in which a 20-year-old woman was dragged to death.
She narrated her experience with Harish Chandra to the cops, who had pursued her even after being refused the first time. When she rebuffed him again, this time walking up to the driver’s seat to personally reprimand him, he abruptly rolled up the window while her arm was inside the car. “Her hand got stuck and she was dragged 10 to 15 metres,” the DCP said.
ThePrint has reached out to Swati Maliwal for her comments. The copy will be updated when she responds.
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