Arvind Kejriwal has chosen Bibhav Kumar's side, he is not with Swati Maliwal: NCW chief

Arvind Kejriwal believes Bibhav Kumar more than he does Swati Maliwal, NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma said.

Published on: May 17, 2024, 12:48:19 IST

By HT News Desk, New Delhi

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Arvind Kejriwal appears to have chosen which side he is on in the Swati Maliwal assault case, National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma asserted at a press conference on Friday, adding that the Delhi chief minister is siding with his personal secretary Bibhav Kumar, who, the Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) says, assaulted Maliwal, the party's Rajya Sabha member.

NCW chief Rekha Sharma at Friday's press conference (ANI)

Also Read | Swati Maliwal assault: Delhi Police likely to visit Arvind Kejriwal's house

“I think he (Kejriwal) has chosen his side. He does not want to be with Maliwal. He believes in Bibhav more than her,” Sharma said.

The AAP national convenor's attitude shows that he is not bothered about what others are thinking about him, Sharma added.

“I think that the Delhi CM is showing that ‘I don’t care for anything, I don't care about whatever you are thinking. He is the not with the woman but with her perpetrator. If he (Kejriwal)was aware of the incident, then questions must be asked of him as well,” she stated.

Also Read | Swati Maliwal ‘assault’: Family breaks silence, mother says AAP MP ‘is not in…’

Detailing steps taken by the women's body in the case, the NCW chief mentioned that it has asked the police for an Action Taken Report (ATR), and FIR charges have been framed against Kumar, the accused.

While Bibhav, who was asked by the NCW to appear before it today, did not reply to the notice, former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Maliwal has taken a medical examination, Sharma noted.

On Thursday, Delhi Police registered a first information report (FIR) against Bibhav Kumar, after the AAP parliamentarian recorded her statement, in which, according to officials aware of the matter, she accused him of “outraging her modesty, slapping, kicking and threatening” her during Monday's incident, which took place at the CM's official residence in the national capital's Civil Lines area.

Also Read | Swati Maliwal's FIR: 'Bibhav Kumar slapped, kicked, hit me on stomach'

Maliwal, too, broke her silence, saying that the past few days had been “very difficult” for her.

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