'Pounced on me, brutally dragged, pulled my shirt up': FIR details assault against AAP MP Swati Maliwal
NEW DELHI: The FIR filed by Delhi Police on the assault against AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, reveals horrific details of the assault that happened with her at the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on May 13.
As per the FIR, a copy of which has been accessed by THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, Maliwal was subjected to severe assault by Kejriwal's close aide Bibhav Kumar following which she approached the police.
On May 13 around 9 am Maliwal had visited the residence of CM Arvind Kejriwal at 6, Flagstaff Road, Civil Lines, Delhi to meet him.
Maliwal, in her complaint, stated that she entered the residence area and informed the staff present there to convey her message to CM Kejriwal. She was informed that Kejriwal was present in the house and accordingly she was directed to the drawing room to wait for him.
"I went inside the camp office and called CM's PS Bibhav Kumar but I could not go in. I then sent a message on his mobile number (through WhatsApp). However, there was no response. I then went inside the residential area through the main door, as I have always done in the past year. Since Bibhav Kumar was not present, I entered the residence area and informed the staff present there to tell the CM here to meet him," the FIR read.
"Suddenly, the PS of the CM, Bibhav Kumar, barged into the room. He started screaming without any provocation and even resorted to verbal abuse. I was stunned by this sudden outburst and reacted by telling him to stop talking to me in such a manner and to call the CM," an excerpt from the FIR read.
Maliwal on this received a harsh reply from Kumar. "How dare you not obey us? How can you not obey us? Your status is so low that you won't refuse us. You're a lowly woman, we'll teach you a lesson,” Bibhav Kumar told Maliwal as alleged by her.
The former Delhi Commission for Women chief said that while uttering these words, Bibhav Kumar came and stood right in front of her and without any provocation, started hitting her repeatedly.
“He slapped me at least 7-8 times while I continued to scream for help. I felt absolutely shocked and kept screaming for assistance. In an attempt to protect myself, I pushed him away with my legs. At that moment, he pounced on me, brutally dragged me, and deliberately pulled my shirt up causing the buttons to come undone, and my shirt flew up," the FIR read.
Maliwal said that she pleaded with him to stop and screamed for help but Kumar continued to assault her by kicking the parliamentarian on her chest, stomach and pelvic area with legs.
"I repeatedly told him that I am having my periods and that he should let go of me as I am in unbearable pain. However, he attacked me with full force again and again. I somehow managed to get free. I then sat on the sofa of the drawing room and gathered my spectacles that had fallen on the ground during the assault. I was in a terrible state of shock at this attack. I was deeply traumatised and called the 112 number and reported the crime against me," Maliwal alleged.
When Bibhav realised that Maliwal had called the police, he went out of the room and came back with security personnel, the FIR notes.
"Bibhav returned with the security personnel working at the main gate of the CM camp offices. They came and asked me to leave, at the behest of Bibhav. I kept telling them that I was brutally beaten up and they should look at my condition and wait until the PCR police comes. However, they asked me to leave the premises. I was taken outside the CM residence and I sat briefly on the floor outside as I was in deep pain. The PCR police came but I was completely dazed and left by walking towards my previous residence in Civil Lines," Maliwal said.
"I was crying and somehow reached my earlier residence. I sat on the ground there for some time, and some police personnel who had accompanied me from the CM house called me an auto on my request. I sat in it and started going towards my house, as I was in terrible pain and was traumatised and shattered. Somehow I mustered the strength and asked the auto to head back and went to the police station at Civil Lines to report the matter," she said.
"I reached and sat in the SHO room and I was crying and informed the SHO about the incident. I was in terrible pain and having severe cramps. I also started receiving a lot of calls from media on my mobile. Due to extreme trauma, pain and not wanting to politicise the incident, I left the police station without filing a written complaint. My head was splitting in pain and my arms and legs were aching terribly due to the assault," Maliwal said.
"The past few days since the incident have been extremely painful for me. It is one of the most difficult times of my life. The pain, trauma and harassment has been mind-numbing. My head and neck has been hurting constantly since the attack. My arms are very sore and my abdomen is also paining. I am also having difficulty in walking. My situation is exacerbated by the fact that having worked all my life for women's issues and having helped lakhs of women get justice, I ended up being brutally beaten by a person whom I had known for long. I am deeply disturbed by this incident and am distraught that someone could display such goonda behaviour. I feel totally shattered," she said.
"It has taken me three days to gather myself and report the matter through a written complaint. I request you to kindly take strongest possible action in the matter. I am shocked that this brutal attack happened to me completely unprovoked at the CM residence," Maliwal said.
The FIR was filed under IPC Sections 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide), 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint), 354B (Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation), and 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).
Maliwal also recorded her statement before the magistrate in Delhi's Tis Hazari court under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI)