Court frames domestic abuse charge against Somnath Bharti

Charges of attempt to murder and attempt to prevent child from being born alive were, however, dropped. Bharti said he would appeal to the high court against the framing of charges.

A Delhi court Tuesday framed charges of voluntary causing hurt, criminal intimidation and domestic abuse against AAP MLA and former Delhi law minister Somnath Bharti in a 2015 case filed by his wife Lipika Mitra.

New Delhi, India - Sept. 28, 2015: AAP MLA Somnath Bharti arrives to surrender at the Dwarka North Police Station, in New Delhi, India, on Monday Night, September 28, 2015. (Photo by Virendra Singh Gosain/ Hindustan Times)

Charges of attempt to murder and attempt to prevent child from being born alive were, however, dropped. Bharti said he would appeal to the high court against the framing of charges.

Mitra had claimed that Bharti made their dog attack her with the intent to “finish” their unborn child. The court, however, did not find merit in the complaint. “A perusal of the treatment record at Ayushman Hospital does not suggest that the complainant had suffered dog bites,” the court said. It also relied on a report from Government Veterinary Hospital, which opined that the dog did not follow Bharti’s commands of “sit”, “bite” or “kaato” .

The court, however, framed charges of voluntarily causing hurt after Mitra filed a complaint saying that “Bharti burnt her arms by forcibly putting the same on hot pressure cooker that was on the stove.” She also said that Bharti had demanded dowry.

The court also noted that Bharti’s counsel “did not address any argument with regard to other offences such as causing hurt and domestic violence among other offences.”

Bharti said that he along with his wife had moved the high court for reconciliation and that the court on August 9, 2018 had asked them “to live together with the children for next 6 months” and directed them “to come back after settling the dust.”