New Delhi : In a fresh twist in the Swati Maliwal assault case, Aam Aadmi Party has attacked its own Rajya Sabha MP over a purported video clip from the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from the day of the alleged assault.
In a post on social media platform X, AAP stated, “Swati Maliwal ka sach (Swati Maliwal’s truth).” The post refers to a news story with a purported video clip of the Rajya Sabha MP and security personnel at CM Kejriwal’s house on May 13. Delhi Police say that the video is yet to be authenticated by them.
Notably, this is the first time that AAP has taken the stand against Maliwal in the assault case contradicting the earlier stand of the party as AAP MP Sanjay Singh had said that Arvind Kejriwal has taken cognizance of the incident and has directed “strict action” in the incident, adding that the party is “with Swati Maliwal.”
After two days of assault, AAP Rajya Sabha and MP Swati Maliwal reached AIIMS for medical check up. National Commission of Women has demanded an action taken report from the Delhi Police.
NCW chief Rekha Sharma on Friday said that they have been in contact with Swati Maliwal since the assault incident happened at the residence of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
“…We have asked for an Action Taken Report from Police. FIR charges have been framed. A medical examination of Swati Maliwal has also been done today,” the NCW chief said.
She further stated that Kejriwal’s personal secretary Bibhav Kumar had not replied to the notice, “The NCW team went today as well with the notice, an inquiry team will be sent if he does not reply to our notice.”
On taking action against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, she said, “If Delhi CM is involved in this, police and NCW will take action against him.”
The NCW Chief said that the commission had taken Suo Moto notice of the case as soon as it had come out in the public domain.
“We took suo motu when we saw this on social media. I was closely watching everything and I requested her to come out and file a complaint. I think she was traumatised because no one could expect that she would be beaten like this at their leader’s residence. She is an MP who has always been taking up the issues of women. I told her that I was with her, and you come out and complain. After thinking for a long time, she filed a complaint,” Rekha Sharma said.
Notably, Delhi Police filed an FIR at the Civil Lines police station on Thursday in connection with the alleged assault on the AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP a few days ago. She claimed that she was assaulted by Chief Minister Arvind Kejirwal’s personal secretary, Bibhav Kumar.
Swati Maliwal is now recording her statement before the magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The recording of the statement is taking place at the Tis Hazari court in Delhi. Under Section 164, a magistrate can record a person’s statement or confession during a police investigation before the trial. Maliwal had made a PCR call from the Chief Minister’s House at 9.34 pm on May 13.
According to the police FIR, Maliwal in her complaint said that she was slapped, hit on the stomach, attacked, and kicked by Bibhav Kumar at the Chief Minister’s residence. The Delhi police filed an FIR in connection with the alleged assault naming Bibhav Kumar.
The FIR has been registered under sections 354, 506, 509, and 323 of the IPC, among other sections, for offences including assault or criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty, criminal intimidation, word gesture or acts of intent to insult and assault.