DCW chief Swati Maliwal was allegedly dragged by a car for 10-15 meters at around 3.11 am opposite AIIMS gate no 2 after her hand got stuck in the car's window as the driver, Harish Chandra, suddenly pulled up the glass window while she was reprimanding him as he asked her to sit in his car, the Delhi Police said.
Maliwal tweeted confirming the incident and raising questions about women's security in the national capital. She said if the women's panel chief is not safe then one should think about the plight of Delhi.
She said, "I was inspecting the security for women in Delhi late last night. A car driver in an inebriated condition tried to misbehave with me and when I caught hold of him he rolled up the car window with my hand stuck in it and dragged me as he started his car. God saved my life. If the women's commission chief is not safe in Delhi, think about its condition."
Police told news agency ANI, "Accused, Harish Chandra, 47, was in an inebriated state and has been arrested. FIR has been filed. A medical examination of the accused and victim was done. The incident happened when Swati Maliwal was standing on a footpath with her team standing near her at the same location."
The police said a PCR call was received around 3:11 am on January 19 informing that someone in a white Baleno car misbehaved with a woman and later dragged her but the woman survived.
The call was made by Garuda 1 (special patrolling vehicle in the South district) to the control room at 3.10 am. The patrol vehicle had seen a woman on the pavement opposite AIIMS Gate number 2 in the Kotla Police Station area at 3.05 am and had stopped to enquire whether she was in any trouble.
The woman said that the person driving the Baleno was drunk and asked her to sit with him in the car and when she refused he went only to return again, police said.
He once again asked her to sit in the car and again she refused but this time she stopped him by grabbing onto the window to reprimand him. That is when the driver quickly rolled up the window and started the vehicle with her hand stuck in it. She was dragged for 10-15 metres, the police said.
This comes in the midst of the Kanjhawala case in which a 20-year-old Anjali Singh was killed in the early hours of January 1 after her scooter was hit by a car and she along with the scooter was dragged for more than 12 kilometres from Sultanpur to Kanjhawala.
The postmortem report revealed the woman died of horrific impact injuries, her head fractured, and skin peeled off. Her friend, Nidhi, who was riding a pillion, sustained minor injuries.
The police arrested Deepak Khanna, 26, Amit Khanna, 25, Krishan, 27, Mithun, 26, and Manoj Mittal in the case on January 2. Another accused, Ashutosh Bhardwaj, was arrested four days later.