DCW chief Swati Maliwal molested and dragged near AIIMS-New Delhi I Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal on Thursday alleged that she was molested by a drunken man early on Thursday. She said the individual dragged her for approximately 10-15 meters while her hand was stuck in the car’s window near the All India Institute of Medical Sciences-Delhi.
A 47-year-old has been arrested from south Delhi’s Sangam Vihar in connection with the incident.
The DCW chief said she was out in the night to inspect the state of women security in Delhi along with her team, in the wake of the Kanjhawla hit-and-drag incident in which a 20-year-old woman was dragged to death while trapped under a car in the national capital.
Maliwal’s team was with her during the inspection, although it was stationed at some distance.
“Last night, I was inspecting the situation of women safety in Delhi. A car driver, in an inebriated condition, harassed me and when I caught hold of him, he rolled up the window pane on my hand and dragged me along. God saved my life. If the chairperson of the women’s commission is not safe in Delhi, one can then imagine the situation,” she tweeted about the incident in Hindi.
“While on the inspection, a man molested me and dragged me with his car. If the DCW chief isn’t safe in Delhi, one can imagine how unsafe Delhi is for women,” Maliwal said.
Later, the DCW issued a statement saying Maliwal was standing at a bus stop on Ring Road opposite AIIMS when the car approached her.
“The driver rolled down the window and asked her to sit in the car but she refused. The man stared at her for some time and left the spot but again approached her after a while. He again asked her to sit in his car but she again refused. He started making lewd gestures towards her,” it said.
“When she approached him to reprimand him, he made a vulgar gesture towards her. When she tried to catch hold of him, he rolled up the window due to which Maliwal’s hand got stuck in it. He then pressed the accelerator to drag her for several metres with the car. She somehow managed to escape,” the statement added.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Chandan Chowdhary said a patrol vehicle spotted her on the pavement opposite AIIMS around 3.05 am and enquired if she was in distress. After Maliwal narrated her ordeal, the police tracked the car down and arrested its driver Harish Chandra.
Chowdhary said a case was registered under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act at Kotla Mubarak Pur based on a complaint from the DCW chief.
In the statement, the Delhi women’s panel said Maliwal visited several places near Kanjhawala, Munirka, Mundka and Hauz Khas following the Kanjhawla case, where she observed dark spots and deployment of police personnel. She also stopped at several bus stops at night and observed the safety situation, it added.
The case refers to the death of Anjali Singh, who was killed in the early hours of New Year day after her scooter was hit by a car, which dragged her for more than 12 kilometres from Sultanpuri to Kanjhawala.
Maliwal also said that during her night inspections, she observed several dark spots in different areas and will be issuing notices to the authorities concerned.
Credit: TOI