West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has said that a strict probe must be conducted in the Swati Maliwal assault case and no one has the authority to violate any woman’s rights.
“This is a serious offence which should not have happened. Any person, whether Minister or not, does not have the right to assault a woman, regardless of the fact she is an MP, MLA or not,” Chowdhury said speaking at a press conference on Friday.
“Strict action should be taken against this. The guilty one should be arrested, interrogated and should be brought to justice,” he added.
The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are partners in the opposition INDIA bloc and have a seat-sharing agreement in Delhi, Haryana and Gujarat.
Earlier, on April 16 Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi had asserted that the party always stood by any woman who was a victim of atrocity.
Speaking to ANI while on the campaign trail in Raebareli, Priyanka Gandhi had said ” If any atrocity happens to any woman anywhere, we stand with the woman. I always stand with women – irrespective of which party they belong to. Secondly, AAP will discuss among themselves and make a decision. It is up to them.”
Meanwhile, as the probe intensified in the Swati Maliwal assault case, the Delhi Police Forensic Science Laboratory team reached Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence and collected DVR recordings of CCTV footage of many places inside the residence.
According to the sources, it will also be investigated whether there was any tampering with the footage.
The development came after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal also alleged that the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed at the Delhi CM’s residence were being tampered with.
Taking to the microblogging site X on Friday evening, Swati Maliwal, the former chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) said, “I have received information that now these people are tampering with the CCTV of the house.” Maliwal also tagged Delhi Police in her post.
Earlier, a team of Delhi Police, led by Additional DCP Delhi North, Civil Lines Police Station SHO, and a team of forensic officials, arrived at the CM’s residence on Friday evening for scene recreation. Maliwal was also called there as part of the investigation into the alleged assault on her.
The team departed from the CM’s residence at around 2.15 am on Saturday after investigation and videography of the premises.
