Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal has alleged that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s private secretary Bibhav Kumar slapped her, kicked her in the chest, dragged her and made threats, according to the FIR lodged by the Delhi Police on Thursday. Commenting on the matter, AAP Minister Atishi said in a press conference on Friday that Ms. Maliwal’s allegations were part of a political conspiracy hatched by the BJP.
The Delhi Police on Thursday visited Ms. Maliwal’s residence in central Delhi to record her statement. According to a senior official, the visit lasted for four hours where the former chief of the Delhi Commission for Women elaborated on the ordeal that she was subjected to on May 13 at the Chief Minister’s Civil Lines residence. The Delhi Police had received a call from a woman identifying herself as Ms. Maliwal, who informed them about the “assault” and later she visited the Civil Lines Police Station but had not filed a formal complaint. Three days later, the MP recorded her statement in the presence of two senior police officials. Subsequently, the police booked Mr. Kumar under IPC sections pertaining to assault, criminal intimidation, and outraging a woman’s modesty.
According to the FIR accessed by The Hindu, Ms. Maliwal had gone to the CM’s Civil Lines residence to meet him. She tried contacting Mr. Kumar but received no response. Subsequently, she informed the staff about her presence and sat in the drawing room.
The MP alleged that while she was waiting, Mr. Kumar burst into the drawing room and started verbally abusing her. She accused him of slapping her seven or eight times, hitting her on the chest, the stomach and the pelvic region,“unprovoked”.
“I felt shocked and was screaming for help over and over again,” the FIR read.
Ms. Maliwal alleged that in order to protect herself she pushed the accused with her legs. “At that time, he pounced on me, brutally dragged and deliberately pulled my shirt up,” the FIR said. She said that she had told Mr. Kumar that she was on her periods and already in much pain, but that he did not stop.
Her statement said that she was in a “terrible state of shock” at this attack and, traumatised, she had called the 112 number and reported the incident.
After making the call, when she came back to the drawing room, where the assault took place, the CM’s security personnel arrived and instead of assisting her, they allegedly followed Mr. Kumar’s instructions and threw her out, she stated in the FIR.
On Friday, Ms. Maliwal was taken to the Chief Minister’s residence to “re-create” the crime scene, said a senior police official.
Investigation on
A senior Delhi Police officer told The Hindu that they were tracing Mr. Kumar’s location and scrutinising the footage of the CCTV cameras installed inside the Chief Minister’s residence and collating statements of those who met Ms. Maliwal on the day of the incident. Police have recorded statements of staff members who were working on the day of the alleged incident, including those who were seen arguing with Ms. Maliwal in the video.
“Ms. Maliwal’s medical check up was done for almost four hours, where she was accompanied by her friend and colleague Vandana Singh. She underwent X-ray and CT scan,” the senior officer added.
According to another source, the forensics team of the Delhi Police on Friday visited the Chief Minister’s residence to collect samples in connection with the case.
The National Commission for Women, which had on Thursday issued notice to Mr. Bibhav to appear in-person before the committee, on Friday said that the accused did not appear. Taking to social media platform X, the NCW said that its team, accompanied by the ACP of Civil Lines, attempted to serve a notice of hearing to Mr. Kumar at his residence. “When the occupants of the house refused to accept the notice, the officers affixed it on the gate of his residence,” the post read. The body has scheduled the hearing on Saturday.
A video clip that has surfaced on the Internet shows Ms. Maliwal in the drawing room of the CM’s residence and refusing to leave the premises. She is seen telling the security personnel that she has called 112, and will only leave the premises after the police arrive, and if they still insist on making her leave, then they had better “pick her up and throw her outside the house”.
It is a conspiracy, says Atishi
Citing the video clip as evidence, Ms. Atishi said the allegations made by Ms. Maliwal were a part of the BJP’s conspiracy to defame the Chief Minister.
“Ever since Arvind Kejriwal has got bail, the BJP is rattled. Due to this, the BJP hatched a conspiracy, under which Swati Maliwal was sent to Arvind Kejriwal’s house on the morning of May 13. Swati Maliwal was the face and pawn of this conspiracy,” she told reporters.
Further, she said that the BJP had intended to accuse the CM but he was not present. According to Ms. Atishi, Mr. Kumar stood before Ms. Maliwal and barred her from entering the premises beyond the drawing room as she did not have an appointment. Ms. Maliwal was “misusing” her position as a Rajya Sabha member to threaten staff over loss of employment if she was stopped from entering the CM’s residence.
Ms. Atishi said that though in her complaint Ms. Maliwal had alleged assault, the video clip showed her sitting “comfortably” in the drawing room of the CM’s residence. “She was also seen threatening Bibhav Kumar in the video. Her clothes were not torn nor was there any injury on her head as can be seen in the video,” she said.
Mr. Atishi said that Mr. Kumar had filed a formal complaint on Friday with the Delhi Police against Ms. Maliwal.
Regarding AAP leader Sanjay Singh’s remarks about the CM looking into the matter and confirming that Mr. Kumar had misbehaved with Ms.Maliwal, Ms. Atishi said that her colleague was unaware of the full picture. “He had read media reports where Ms. Maliwal stated her side of the story,” she said.
Maliwal’s counter
Ms. Maliwal posted her counter on X. “The leaders who joined the party yesterday declared a 20-year-old worker as a BJP agent. Two days ago, the party had accepted the truth in the PC and today it has taken a U-turn,” she said.
Calling Mr. Kumar a “goon”, she said that the accused must be threatening the party that if he gets arrested then he will “reveal all the secrets”.
“Today, under his pressure, the party gave in and to save a goon, my character was questioned by the entire party. No problem, I have been fighting alone for the women of the entire country, I will fight for myself too. Do character assassination as much as possible, the truth will come out when the time comes,” her post read.
Regarding the video clip, she said that a “political hitman” had planted a video without any context and is making “his people” tweet the same.
She said that the “truth” would be revealed when the CCTV footage is scrutinised.
BJP criticism
Earlier in the day, the BJP criticised Mr. Kejriwal. Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that there can be no whataboutery about this incident. “This happened inside Arvind Kejriwal’s residence while he was present (and) by his right-hand man,” she said. She accused Mr. Kejriwal of “shamelessly moving around with Bibhav Kumar”.
