Naveen Jaihind, the ex-husband of Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, has alleged that there is a threat to her life and “anything could happen” to her.
His remarks came not so long after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) admitted to an assault on Maliwal by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Personal Secretary Bibhav Kumar.
In a first public statement on the issue, senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh confirmed the incident and said that the Chief Minister has taken cognisance of the matter and will take strict action.
In a video posted on Facebook, Jaihind alleged that AAP leader Sanjay Singh was “acting” and that Swati Maliwal’s life was in danger.
“Whatever has happened with Swati is part of a conspiracy and she is being threatened. Anything can happen to her. And the Bibhav (Kumar) whose name is coming up as the one behind the attack on her, has not standing. He can’t even speak in a loud voice. I cannot tell whose orders is he following,” Naveen said in the video, adding that he had not spoken to Swati Maliwal since their divorce four years ago.
He also alleged that AAP MP Sanjay Singh was aware of everything that was planned and that he was acting.
“Why are you acting MP Sanjay Singh? You know the whole incident, right? You already knew what was going to happen. The attack was a conspiracy. Swati’s life is in danger. You know that right? Now you are trying to intimidate her into silence,” the Facebook post’s caption read.
Earlier today, AAP MP Sanjay Singh admitted to an assault on Swati Maliwal by Bibhav Kumar when she went to meet Arvind Kejriwal at his residence on Monday.
“Yesterday, Maliwal had gone to meet Arvind Kejriwal at his residence. While she was waiting to meet him in the drawing room, Bibhav Kumar misbehaved with her. This is a highly condemnable incident. Kejriwal has taken cognisance of it and will take strict action in the incident,” Sanjay Singh said while addressing a press conference.
In the over 2-minute video posted on Facebook, Naveen Jaihind also asked Swati Maliwal to come forward and speak up. “Swati should speak for herself. She raised her voice for so many women, so why is she afraid of these people?”.
On Monday, police received a PCR call at 9.34 am from a woman who said she had been assaulted at the Delhi Chief Minister’s residence. “After some time, MP madam came to the police station. However, she left stating she will give a complaint later,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (north) M K Meena told reporters.
Notably, police have not yet received a formal complaint from Maliwal about the matter.
Swati Maliwal announced her divorce from Naveen Jaihind on February 19, 2020 and said that her “fairytale” had ended. Jaihind was AAP’s convenor for Haryana and was the face of the party in the 2019 Vidhan Sabha elections in the state.
Three years after their divorce, Naveen had also accused Swati Maliwal of lying and said that she never mentioned to him that her father had “sexually assaulted her”. His remarks came after Swati Maliwal said she was sexually assaulted by her father and she used to hide under the bed to save herself from the beating.