Swati Maliwal assault row: FIR filed over AAP MP's complaint, naming Kejriwal aide as accused

The Delhi Police on Thursday (May 16) filed an FIR or first information report following Aam Aadmi Party's Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal's allegations that she was allegedly assaulted by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide.

As per the police officials, the Delhi Chief Minister's personal secretary, Bibhav Kumar, has been named as an accused in the case.

The National Commission for Women (NCW), earlier in the day, also summoned Kumar to appear on Friday (May 17) over the matter.

"The National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken suo moto cognizance of a media post captioned 'DCW chief Swati Maliwal accuses Arvind Kejriwal's personal secretary of assaulting her'. The post reported that Ms Swati Maliwal, RS MP and former DCW chief, has alleged that the Private Secretary of (the) Chief Minister of Delhi had brutally assaulted her at the Chief Minister's residence," read the notice issued by the NCW on Thursday.

"In view of the above, the Commission has scheduled a hearing in this matter on May 17, 2024, at 11 AM. All concerned parties are required to appear before the Commission in person," it added.

Maliwal asks BJP to not politicise incident

Earlier in the day, Maliwal, in her first reaction to the alleged assault row, stated that she has given her statement to the Delhi police.

She further called on the Bharatiya Janata Party to not indulge in any politics around the incident.

Three days ago, Maliwal had alleged that she was "assaulted" by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's close aide Bibhav Kumar at the Chief Minister's official residence.

"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 on her official X account, as per an auto-translation of the original post in Hindi.

मेरे साथ जो हुआ वो बहुत बुरा था। मेरे साथ हुई घटना पर मैंने पुलिस को अपना स्टेटमेंट दिया है। मुझे आशा है कि उचित कार्यवाही होगी। पिछले दिन मेरे लिए बहुत कठिन रहे हैं। जिन लोगों ने प्रार्थना की उनका धन्यवाद करती हूँ। जिन लोगों ने Character Assassination करने की कोशिश की, ये बोला… — Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) May 16, 2024

She further said that the incident took place at a crucial time when the Lok Sabha elections were going on in the country but it was important to bring such issues to everyone's notice.

"There is a special request to the BJP people not to do politics on this incident," she said in the same post.

(With inputs from agencies)