Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal was reportedly molested and “dragged by a car” for several meters opposite AIIMS in Delhi at about 3 am on Thursday. She was out to ‘inspect’ the safety of women on the streets of the national capital.
“Late last night I was inspecting the situation of women’s security in Delhi. A car driver molested me in an inebriated condition and when I caught hold of him, he locked my hand in the car window and dragged me. God saved a life. If the Chairperson of the Women’s Commission is not safe in Delhi, then imagine the situation,” she wrote in a tweet.
Delhi Police said that they arrested the accused driver identified as Harish Chandra, 47, a resident of Sangam Vihar, within half an hour after the matter was reported to them and booked him under sections 323, 341, 354, 509 of the IPC and 185 MV Act has been registered at Kotla Mubarak Pur police station.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal used the incident to hit out at L-G who VK Saxena. “Law and order situation fast deteriorating in Delhi. LG, rather than taking steps to improve it, is busy playing dirty politics. He has called a series of meetings of Delhi govt officers today, which he has no powers to do, to further meddle and interfere in elected government’s functioning.”
According to DCP (South) Chandan Chowdhary “on January 19, a PCR call was received at 3.11 saying ‘that ‘AIIMS bus stop ke backside DL 3CC T 4932 Baleno white colour waale ne lady ki taraf galat ishaare kiye hain aur lady ko ghaseeta hai par lady bach gayi’. ( A man driving a white Baleno made wrong gestures at a lady and then dragged her. But she was saved.)
The call was made by Garuda 1 ( special patrolling vehicle in South district) to the control room at 3.10 am. The patrol vehicle had seen a lady on the pavement opposite AIIMS Gate number 2 in the Kotla PS area at 3.05 am hrs and had stopped to enquire from her whether she was in distress.
The lady mentioned that a person driving the Baleno car was drunk and stopped near her and asked her to sit in the car with “bad intentions”. When she refused, he went ahead and came back after taking a U-turn from the service lane. He kept on persisting her to sit in the car. When the lady refused and went near the driver’s side window to reprimand him, he quickly rolled up the window. Her hand got stuck and she was dragged for 10-15 metres/
At 3.12 am, South District control room broadcasted the message about the incident. And at 3.15 am eagle 12 (PS Hauz khas PCR) informed that the area was of Kotla Mubarak Pur police station.
DCP said Baleno vehicle was apprehended by the PCR vehicle and Garuda at 3.34 pm from the same area. The driver underwent a medical examination. He was found to be under the influence of alcohol. Earlier he was employed with a telecommunication company.
Police said the officers had no idea that the victim was DCW chief Swati Maliwal.