Swati Maliwal claims Arvind Kejriwal was at home during 'assault'

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal on Thursday accused Arvind Kejriwal of protecting his aide Bibhav Kumar, claiming that the Delhi Chief Minister was at his residence when Kumar allegedly assaulted her.

In an interview with news agency ANI, Swati Maliwal said, "It is a fact that despite all this happening till date, I have not received any call from Arvind ji nor has he met me till now. Arvind Ji is protecting the accused... Instructions have been given to every person in the entire party to assassinate my character."

Maliwal revisited the turn of events on May 13 and said "I had gone to see Arvind Kejriwal at his residence at around 9 am on May 13. His staff asked me to sit in the drawing room and told me that Arvind ji was at home and was coming to meet me shortly."

"Next moment, Bibhav Kumar barged into the drawing room and I asked her if something was wrong. At that, he started hitting me. He slapped me 7-8 times with full force. When I tried to push him away, he grabbed my leg and began to drag me. My head hit the centre table. I fell on the floor, after which he started kicking me", Maliwal



added.

She further said she screamed for help, but "it fell on deaf ears".

"It was strange that no one turned up to help me," she said.

When asked if Bibhav Kumar was acting on instructions given by someone, Maliwal said, "That is all a matter of investigation now. I am fully cooperating with the Delhi Police (in the probe). But yes, I am not giving anyone a clean chit. Because the fact remains that when I was in the drawing room, Arvind Kejriwal was at home."

"I did not care about my own safety, my career and to what extent these people could have gone with me. I just thought to myself like I tell every woman to side by the truth, lodge genuine complaints, but if something wrong has been done to you, you stand up and fight against it. That's exactly what I am doing today," she said.

Maliwal also asked the police to conduct her polygraph test so that "everything becomes clear".

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Swati Maliwal claimed that senior AAP leaders were under pressure to act against her as the political slugfest over her alleged assault case has further intensified.