Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal was released on interim bail last Friday (May 10) to campaign for his party contesting in ongoing Lok Sabha polls, but things turned murky after AAP MP Swati Maliwal was allegedly ‘slapped and kicked’ by his close aide Bibhav Kumar when she went to meet the leader at his residence on Monday morning.
Maliwal remained silent for about three days before finally lodging an FIR with the Delhi Police on Thursday. Ahead of filing a complaint, she detailed the acts of physical assault by Bibhav Kumar and said she was slapped, kicked, beaten with a stick, and hit in the stomach.
Maliwal claimed that she pleaded with Bibhav Kumar to leave her when he physically assaulted her on Monday. She then rushed out of Kejriwal’s residence and called the PCR.
The complaint and gory details of the assault on Maliwal by a close aide of a leader of a national party and Delhi CM have drawn condemnation from other political parties.
Slamming AAP and its leader Kejriwal, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said: “Hours after Swati Maliwal was slapped on the face multiple times and viciously assaulted on her chest and lower body, possibly because she didn’t speak up when Kejriwal was arrested.”
“I don’t know what fate awaits Raghav Chadha, who refuses to return from London, let alone speak for Arvind (Kejriwal),” BJP leader Amit Malviya said.
BJP demands Kejriwal’s reaction
Members of Delhi BJP Mahila Morcha staged a protest on Friday outside Kejriwal’s official residence over the alleged assault on Maliwal by Delhi CM’s close aide.
Richa Pandey Mishra, BJP’s Mahila Morcha president, led the protesters, who were carrying bangles, demanding Kejriwal’s resignation.
Mishra said they wanted to hand over the bangles to Delhi CM for staying silent over the incident with Maliwal that occurred at his residence on Monday.
‘Women not safe in Delhi’
LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan also slammed Kejriwal and the government he leads in Delhi, saying: “Nothing can be more shameful than this incident taking place at the residence of the Chief Minister…Look at the attitude of the Chief Minister, he took the person who is accused with him in a press conference yesterday.”
“If women are not safe at the CM residence, then what will happen to the women in Delhi? If such an incident happens at the Chief Minister’s residence, then how will the Chief Minister assure that such an incident will not happen with the common women living in Delhi,” Paswan added.
Meanwhile, Bibhav Kumar has been summoned by the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Friday, May 17 over the matter.
With inputs from agencies
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