Lipika says he is scared of her and her two children’s lives.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: Pressure is mounting on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Delhi Somnath Bharti, as his wife has made more shocking revelations of domestic abuse inflicted on her.
Bharti’s wife, Lipika, has accused him of unleashing dogs at her when she was pregnant, forcing her to have an abortion. She slit her wrist once to commit suicide, unable to bear the immense physical and mental torture imposed on her.
Bharti, who received a notice from Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) yesterday, has refused to accept allegations leveled against him. He met the Delhi chief minister and party supremo Arvind Kejriwal to brief him on the issue.
In the complaint filed against Bharti in DCW, Lipika has accused Bharti of forcing her to undergo an abortion while she was pregnant with their third child. She also added that owing to unbearable torture inflicted by Bharti, she even tried committing suicide by slitting her wrist.
DCW Chairperson Barkha Singh said, “In her complaint, she mentioned that her husband used to unleash dogs on her when she was in the seventh month into her pregnancy. She said he once forced her to abort and that she tried to slit her wrist.”
In the 26 page complaint filed by Lipika, she has asked the commission to safeguard her and her two children from the “persistent threat to her life” from Bharti. Lipika along with the two children live in a separate house in Dwarka.
Somnath Bharti, who is a lawyer by profession, was the first law minister of the AAP government that succumbed just 49-days after coming to power in 2013. He was given notice by the DCW on Wednesday after Lipika accused him of domestic violence, mental torture, dowry, and forgery.
The DCW notice has asked him to appear before the commission on or before June 26. The DCW chief said, “The couple had met on shaadi.com and Bharti had told her lies about him owning an international law firm.”
Making things worse for Bharti, the Women’s wing of BJP staged a protest outside his residence in Malviya Nagar and called the government for an immediate probe into the matter.
Reacting to the allegations leveled by his wife, Somnath Bharti said, “I love my wife and my little children. The allegations are totally false.”
The DCW Chairperson Barkha Singh, who also happens to be a former MLA of the ousted Congress party, attacked Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal by asking him to take a stand on the issue which involves one of his closest aides and party workers.
Barkha Singh said, “I want to know whether Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who had taken a proactive stance to protect Kumar Vishwas, will do the same for Somnath Bharti.”
This is not the first time that an AAP MLA has been served notice by DCW; last month party leader Kumar Vishwas was served notice for an alleged relationship with a woman AAP volunteer.