 "Swati Maliwal")
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Swati Maliwal on Thursday broke her silence for the first time since the matter of alleged assault on her by Arvind Kejriwal's personal assistant, Bibhav Kumar, came to the spotlight.
"What happened to me was very bad. I have given my statement to the police on the incident that happened to me. I hope appropriate action will be taken. The past few days have been very difficult for me. I thank those who prayed. Those who tried to indulge in character assassination, said that I was doing it at the behest of the other party, God bless them too," she said in a post on 'X' in Hindi.
On Monday, the Delhi police confirmed that Maliwal approached them alleging an assault at the CM's house; however, they did not lodge a formal complaint.
Top updates on Swati Maliwal' assault' case:
1) The Delhi police on Thursday filed an FIR in the matter, naming Kumar as an accused, who allegedly slapped Maliwal and hit her on the stomach at the Chief Minister's residence on Monday. The FIR has been registered under sections 354, 506, 509, and 323 of the IPC, among other sections, for offences including word gesture or acts of intent to insult and assault, criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty and criminal intimidation.
Maliwal requests BJP to avoid politics
2) Maliwal has also asked the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to avoid "politicisation" of the issue. "An important election is going on in the country, Swati Maliwal is not important, the issues of the country are important. There is a special request to BJP people to not do politics on this incident," she said.
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3) After lodging a formal complaint against Kumar, Maliwal reached the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, to undergo a medical checkup late evening on Thursday. Earlier in the day, the National Commission for Women (NCW) summoned Kumar to appear on May 17 in connection with the case.
BJP blames Kejriwal for "planning" assault
4) The BJP has been targeting Kejriwal over the issue, accusing him of shielding the accused. The party's national spokesperson, Shazia Ilmi, demanded the Delhi CM's resignation and even alleged that Kumar acted at Kejriwal's behest.
"Bibhav Kumar's job profile is to obey Arvind Kejriwal. I have also tolerated the misbehaviour of that person...Prashant Kumar and Yogendra Yadav were also kicked out by bouncers. But this time, they have crossed limits…He should apologise and resign…No one should think that this has been done by Bibhav. He has done this misbehaviour on the orders of Kejriwal…," the former AAP leader alleged.
Delhi BJP Mahila Morcha members staged a protest near Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence on Friday morning.
Delhi BJP Mahila Morcha members staged a protest near Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence on Friday morning.
Police deployed to arrest accused Bibhav Kumar
5) According to news agency ANI, the Special Cell and Crime Branch teams have been deployed to arrest the accused. Several Delhi police teams are working to trace him.
6) Notably, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on Thursday shared a photo of Kejriwal with the accused, which he claimed was of the Lucknow airport where the Delhi CM had gone in the morning to attend a press conference with Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav. He questioned the AAP for not acting against Kumar despite an assurance from party MP Sanjay Singh.
Kejriwal refuses to comment on the case
7) So far, Kejriwal himself has not made any comments on the matter. When he was asked questions related to the case during Thursday's press conference, he refused to answer them. The questions were attended by Singh, who advised the BJP to not "politicise" the issue.
Delhi police may visit CM's house today
8) Reports suggest that Delhi Police may visit the CM's house on Friday to investigate and record the statements of the policemen and staff present there at the time of the incident. The police will also record Maliwal's statement before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Meta Keywords: Swati Maliwal, AAP MP, assault case, FIR, Bibhav Kumar, Delhi police, Arvind Kejriwal, BJP, Shazia Ilmi, National Commission for Women, AIIMS, Sanjay Singh, Lucknow airport, Indian Penal Code, Chief Minister's residence
