Beaten, verbally abused, death threats, claims wife.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: A day after Delhi law minister Jitender Singh Tomar was arrested by police for fake educational documents, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) received another major blow today when its MLA Somnath Bharti was accused by his wife of domestic violence.
Bharti has been served notice by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) after his wife Lipika Mitra filed a formal complaint alleging him of causing distress to her through both verbal and physical means.
Barkha Shukla Singh, the Chairperson of DCW was quoted by ANI saying “His (Somnath Bharti) wife is distressed, said she was beaten, verbally abused & given death threats.”
According to the complaint filed by Mitra, the mental and physical torture was rendered to the couple’s children too. The complaint read: “Me and my children are subject to harassment and torture — mental, physical and oral — by my husband Somnath Bharti… There is a persistent threat from my husband and his supporters.”
Mitra was also quoted saying that she has had enough and wants to come out of the marriage to live a much more dignified life with her children.
Bharti, who is an MLA from the Delhi constituency of Malviya Nagar, is a lawyer by profession. When approached by media personnel for his reaction, he refused to comment on the allegations.
For the last three years, the couple were living separately, but Bharti used to often visit his wife and children in their house at Dwarka.
Barkha Shukla also added that “She (Lipika) approached us this afternoon and lodged a complaint alleging assault and domestic violence by her husband Somnath Bharti since 2010. We have issued notices to Bharti asking him to appear before us by June 26. She now wants an end to the torture.”
Mitra was quoted by The Indian Express saying, “It would be difficult for me to summarise all these. It’s going on for a long time. It has been going on since 2010. I want separation; I want to be out from this marriage. I want to live with dignity with my children. It has been a continuous process through which I was going through,”
In the meanwhile, an AAP spokesperson chose not to comment on the issue, stating that it’s Bharti’s personal matter.
Bharathi was the law minister of the first AAP government which lasted for 49 days. He was also touted as the forerunner to the post of law minister after Tomar resigned yesterday.