National Commission for Women (NCW) chief Rekha Sharma accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of turning a blind eye to the alleged assault on his party's MP Swati Maliwal by his close aide Bibhav Kumar. Accusing the Delhi CM of siding with the alleged perpetrator and not the victim, Sharma further said that a fresh FIR could be filed very soon, in which Arvind Kejriwal and his wife could be named in the Swati Maliwal assault case.
Sharma claimed that Arvind Kejriwal was aware of the incident but chose to turn a blind eye to it. She said that Kejriwal is distributing freebies and schemes for the safety of women, but ignored the incident at his own residence?”
"...I think Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is showing that 'I don't care for anything, I don't care about whatever you are thinking'. I think this is an indication that he is taking him [Bibhav] with himself. He is not taking the side of a woman but he is taking the side of the perpetrator. If all of this was in the knowledge of CM, then a big question arises on him…", she told the reporters, as per ANI.
She further said that the police tried handing a notice in the Swati Maliwal assault case to Bibhav Kumar’s wife on Thursday but she refused to accept the same. "Because of this, the police glued the notice on a wall at his home. A police team visited his home again on Friday to hand the notice and in a similar manner, glued it on the wall." Sharma said, “If by tomorrow he does not come then we will visit his residence and make sure that our team meets him as well. I am hoping that he will come tomorrow.”
She stated that she was travelling when the incident occurred. She read about it on social media and took suo motu cognisance of the case. She said that she kept a close watch on everything and even requested Maliwal to 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... After thinking for a long time, she filed a complaint..."
Maliwal Files Complaint
Swati Maliwal filed a complaint against Bibhav Kumar hours after senior Delhi Police officials visited the residence of Swati Maliwal on Thursday. The Delhi Police team, led by Additional Commissioner of Police P S Kushwaha, was at Maliwal's residence for more than four hours.
However, she also made it clear that she did not want the matter to be "politicised". Maliwal said she had recorded her statement with the Delhi Police and that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should not indulge in politics over the incident.
Late on Thursday night, Swati Maliwal was seen leaving All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi following a medical check-up. Maliwal on Friday recorded her statement at the Tees Hazari court in Delhi in front of magistrate Katyayani Sharma.
(With inputs from Ankit Gupta.)