New Delhi: “Slapped and screamed at without provocation”, “brutally dragged”, “shirt deliberately pulled”, “kicked”, and “threatened” — Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha leader Swati Maliwal has mentioned in her police complaint lodged against a close aide of party boss Arvind Kejriwal.
Bibhav Kumar, the former personal assistant to Kejriwal, was booked late Thursday evening under Sections 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 341 (wrongful restraint), 354(b) (assault or use of criminal force against a woman with the intent to disrobe her), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.
Sources in the Delhi Police told ThePrint that investigation is on. “We are screening CCTV footage and will record statements of all those present at the time of the incident, “ a senior Delhi Police officer said.
In a purported video widely shared Friday on ‘X’ taken after the alleged assault, Maliwal is heard arguing with the CM’s security personnel that she would not be leaving the spot and that she has already called the police. ThePrint cannot verify the authenticity of the video.
Maliwal came out to take a swipe at Kumar on ‘X’, saying that “this political hitman has started efforts to save himself”.
हर बार की तरह इस बार भी इस राजनीतिक हिटमैन ने ख़ुद को बचाने की कोशिशें शुरू कर दी हैं।
अपने लोगों से ट्वीट्स करवाके, आधि बिना संदर्भ की वीडियो चलाके इसे लगता है ये इस अपराध को अंजाम देके ख़ुद को बचा लेगा। कोई किसी को पीटते हुए वीडियो बनाता है भला? घर के अंदर की और कमरे की CCTV…
— Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) May 17, 2024
After the episode that took place Monday, Maliwal lodged the complaint to the Delhi Police after the Additional Commissioner of Police and the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police of the North district went to her residence. Later at night, the police also took her to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for a medico-legal checkup.
In her written complaint, Maliwal alleged that when she went to the camp office of Kejriwal to meet him, Bibhav Kumar acted in an usual way as he didn’t respond to her messages and calls.
All of a sudden, she said, Kumar came to the waiting room and asked, “how could she not accept his idea and what was her worth.” She further alleged that Kumar threatened to teach her a lesson and then slapped her face and pulled her shirt up.
Amid continuous screaming, Maliwal alleged, Kumar kicked her in the chest and the crotch even as she begged him to stop. Kumar let her go only after realising that she had made a SOS call to the police but only after threatening that “she would be buried in oblivion”.
ThePrint had reported that Maliwal went to the nearest Civil Lines police station but left within five minutes without filing a complaint. In her complaint to the police, she clarified that it was because she received a raft of calls from the media and that she did not want to politicise the episode.
Kumar was photographed Wednesday by Kejriwal’s side when the AAP convener reached Lucknow. Hailing from Bihar, Kumar has had a long association with Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Manish Sisodia. He worked with their NGO Parivartan, which was launched in June 2000, since its inception, working closely with them in slum areas, focusing on the public distribution system.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) said its officers affixed a notice of hearing at Bibhav Kumar’s residence after it was not accepted. Hearing is scheduled 18 May, it added.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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