Kejriwal responsible for assault on Maliwal, says Niramala Sitharaman

New Delhi: Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday held Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal responsible for the assault on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, saying the AAP chief was present in the house when the incident took place.

In a press conference at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters in New Delhi on Friday, Sitharaman said, “Arvind Kejriwal is responsible for this incident. He was present in the house when the incident took place. His own staff attacked Maliwal. On this issue, the focus should remain only on Kejriwal. He is shamelessly roaming around with the accused when he should apologise for the assault.”

“All the women in Delhi are asking – can this CM even provide security to the women in the city?” she added.

Also Read: Maliwal slapped 7-8 times, kicked in chest, stomach, pelvis: FIR

“Instead of taking action against the accused as Sanjay Singh [AAP Rajya Sabha MP] had assured, Kejriwal has shown his true colour,” said Sitharaman. She also alleged that Maliwal was under “enough pressure from the high level to not lodge a police complaint”.

“The fact that Swati Maliwal did not register a complaint with the police for three to four days (after the incident) means that there was pressure on her from a high level. It is possibly continuing. But she was brave enough to come forward and lodge a complaint. There is reason to believe there was enough pressure on her and probably continues on her”, Sitharaman alleged. 

Maliwal, a former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief, on Thursday filed a complaint with Delhi’s Civil Lines police station accusing Kejriwal’s personal secretary Bibhav Kumar of assaulting her at the CM’s residence on May 13 when she went there to meet the chief minister.

The Delhi Police on Thursday named Kumar in its first information report (FIR), hours after recording Maliwal’s statement at her residence. Maliwal has accused Kumar of “outraging her modesty, slapping, kicking and threatening” her.

In the FIR registered, the police mentioned that she was hit by him in the stomach, slapped and kicked. The FIR was registered under sections 354, 506, 509, and 323 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with crimes like assault or criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty and criminal intimidation.

Also Read: Delhi Police likely to record Swati Maliwal’s statement before magistrate

Referring to Kejriwal’s refusal to talk on the issue at a press conference in Lucknow, Sitharaman said, “He is the CM. His staff assaulted a woman who is a party MP and a Delhi women’s commission chief till recently. Yet, the CM refused to give any answer and pushed aside the microphone”.

Meanwhile, BJP Delhi Mahila Morcha launched a protest outside Kejriwal’s house for not acting against Kumar. 

The National Commission for Women (NCW) took cognisance of the matter of the alleged assault of Maliwal and summoned Kumar. At a press conference on Friday, NCW chief Rekha Sharma said that the Delhi chief minister is siding with his personal secretary.