Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson Swati Maliwal was allegedly molested and dragged for 10-20 metres by a drunk driver after her hand got stuck in his car’s window on the road outside AIIMS, police said Thursday.
The car driver, Harish Chandra, 47, a resident of Sangam Vihar, has been apprehended on charges of molestation and voluntarily causing hurt. He is being questioned, police said.
Police said they received a PCR call around 3.11 am saying that a man inside a Baleno car made inappropriate gestures at a woman and dragged her along the road.
Chandan Chowdhary, DCP (South) said, “Our special patrolling vehicle had made the PCR call after the personnel spotted a lady outside the hospital. She was identified as Swati Maliwal… She mentioned that a person driving a Baleno ,who was drunk, stopped near her and asked her to sit inside…with a bad intention. When she refused, he left but came back again and once again asked her to sit in the car. She again refused and went near his side to reprimand him. The car driver quickly rolled up the window and her hand got stuck… She was dragged for 10-15 metres”.
At 3.12 am, the control room broadcast the message about the incident and started tracing the car. At 3.15 am, the PCR team asked police staff from Kotla Mubarakpur to find the car. Around 3.20 am, the teams reached the spot. and the ACP also reached the spot. At 3.34 am, police said they found the car and caught the accused.
The police said they took immediate action on Maliwal’s statement. “We have taken a written complaint from her. The driver of the vehicle and complainant was sent for medical examination. The accused has been apprehended,” the DCP said.
The police said Maliwal was with her team when the incident took place.
Accused Harish Chandra, who was produced before Link Metropolitan Magistrate Akansha Garg earlier in the day, has been sent to judicial custody till February 2.
Lawyer Satyendra Kumar Dhaka, who appeared for the accused at Saket district court, told The Indian Express: “We have moved a bail application. We told the judge that one section is non-bailable, but the maximum punishment may extend to seven years. As per the Arnesh Kumar guidelines, we are entitled to bail. We will raise these arguments before the court.”
Maliwal posted a tweet saying, “Last night, I was inspecting the situation of women’s security in Delhi. A car driver, in an inebriated state, molested me and when I caught hold of him, he locked my hand in the car window and dragged me. God saved my life…If the Chairperson of the Women’s Commission is not safe in Delhi, then imagine the situation”.
An FIR has been registered under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 354 (criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), and 509 (act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections of Motor Vehicle Act.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal questioned the law and order situation in the national capital. In a tweet in Hindi, he said the “confidence of goons has increased so much that even the women’s commission chairman is not safe.”
Slamming the Delhi L-G VK Saxena, he added: “LG Sahib is requested to leave politics for a few days and focus on law and order. We will fully cooperate with them.”
