New Delhi, April 15 (H.S.): Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal filed a bail bond in the Rouse Avenue court in a case involving the disclosure of the identity of a minor rape victim in 2016. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Neha Mittal issued a notice to the investigating officer, instructing them to appear in court at the next hearing. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for April 28.

On February 13, the Delhi High Court rejected the plea to quash the FIR registered against Swati Maliwal in this case. Initially, this case was being heard in the Tis Hazari Court. Due to Swati Maliwal being a member of Parliament, the Tis Hazari Court transferred the trial of this case to the Rouse Avenue Court on March 18.

In this case, in 2016, the police of Burari police station in Delhi registered an FIR against Swati Maliwal and Bhupender Singh under Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 74 and 86 of the Juvenile Justice Act. The 14-year-old rape victim and her mother raised allegations of abduction and sexual harassment. On January 5, 2016, the victim recorded her statement before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The statement given before the magistrate was different from the FIR. Based on this, the accused of rape was granted bail on January 12, 2016.

According to the prosecution, after the accused was granted bail, Swati Maliwal wrote a letter to the then Chief Minister of Delhi stating that the rape victim had changed her statement out of fear, but no action was taken on this. Swati Maliwal’s statement was circulated by Bhupender Singh, then the Public Relations Officer of the Delhi Women’s Commission, through a WhatsApp group to all news channels. The information in the WhatsApp group revealed the victim's identity. Based on this, the Delhi police registered an FIR against Swati Maliwal and Bhupender Singh.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar