Saddened by 'character assassination': Swati Maliwal writes letter to I.N.D.I.A. bloc leaders calling for meeting

This comes after a court on Saturday extended till June 22 the judicial custody of Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar.

New Delhi: AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal on Tuesday wrote to top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) supremo Sharad Pawar seeking time to inform them about the “brutal victim shaming and character assassination” she is facing from her party after she was allegedly assaulted by an aide of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

In identical letters to the leaders seeking their time to “discuss the pertinent issue”, she said over the past one month, she has encountered “first-hand pain and isolation a survivor faces when she fights for justice”.

“The brutal victim shaming and character assassination I have been subjected to, would discourage other women and girls from speaking up against abuse,” she said in the letters.

Maliwal had accused Kejriwal’s personal aide Bibhav Kumar of physically assaulting her at the Chief Minister’s residence when she went to meet him on May 13. AAP had alleged that Maliwal is the “face of a BJP conspiracy” to trap Kejriwal.

“Following the traumatic incident (of May 13), I took the necessary step of filing a police complaint. Regrettably, instead of finding support, I was confronted with incessant attacks on my character and victim shaming orchestrated by the leaders and volunteers of my own party,” she said.

“A smear campaign was organised in the electronic and social media to undermine my reputation, character and credibility. Due to the lies spread against me, I have been receiving multiple rape and death threats,” Maliwal, who was Delhi Commission for Women chairperson for around eight years, said. Maliwal was considered a close aide of Kejriwal.