Swati Maliwal, the chief of the Delhi Commission for Women, was allegedly accosted on the road and dragged by a drunk driver for 15 metres in the early hours of Thursday. A 47-year-old man has been arrested.
Ms Maliwal was allegedly harassed and dragged near the AIIMS hospital in Delhi when she was out on the streets “for a reality check” on the safety of women in the capital.
She detailed the incident in a tweet and said: “God saved life. If the chairperson of the woman’s commission is not safe in Delhi, then imagine the situation.”
कल देर रात मैं दिल्ली में महिला सुरक्षा के हालात Inspect कर रही थी। एक गाड़ी वाले ने नशे की हालत में मुझसे छेड़छाड़ की और जब मैंने उसे पकड़ा तो गाड़ी के शीशे में मेरा हाथ बंद कर मुझे घसीटा। भगवान ने जान बचाई। यदि दिल्ली में महिला आयोग की अध्यक्ष सुरक्षित नहीं, तो हाल सोच लीजिए।
– Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) January 19, 2023
Ms Maliwal was on a pavement near AIIMS at around 3.11 am last night when the man, Harish Chandra, drove up in a Baleno car and allegedly pressed her to get in. He was heavily drunk, she told the police. Her team was waiting at a distance.
Ms Maliwal said when she refused, the man drove off but then took a U-turn and returned.
When he tried to force her to join him in the car, she reached in through the window to catch him but he allegedly rolled up the window, trapping her arm.
He allegedly kept driving, dragging Ms Maliwal along for about 15 metres before she freed herself. The man was arrested, and his car has been seized.
Questions were raised around the safety of women in Delhi when a young woman died after being hit by a car and dragged for 13 km in the early hours of the New Year.
