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 on Wednesday night.
The car driver, Harish Chandra, 47, a resident of Sangam Vihar, has been apprehended on charges of molestation and voluntarily causing hurt, said the city police.
“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,“ said Chandan Chowdhary, DCP (South).
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.
Harish Chandra, who was produced before Link Metropolitan Magistrate Akansha Garg earlier in the day, has been sent to judicial custody till February 2.
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”.
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.”
“LG Sahib is requested to leave politics for a few days and focus on law and order. We will fully cooperate with them,“ he added.
