In yet another setback for the Aam Aadmi Party, its MLA and former Law Minister Somnath Bharti has been accused of domestic violence and mental torture by his wife, Lipika Bharti.
Ms. Bharti has filed a complaint with the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) which has summoned the AAP leader to appear before it on June 26.
Ms. Bharti, who has been married to Mr. Bharti since 2010, has been living separately for the last three years along with their two children in a rented accommodation in Dwarka. Mr. Bharti lives with his mother and brother in Malviya Nagar. Ms. Bharti has filed a police complaint and an FIR is yet to be registered.
In a 25-page-long complaint, Ms. Lipika told the commission that she was subjected to physical and mental torture regularly. “Even before leaving for Kerala, he had come to my flat and beat me up. My four-year-old daughter is so scared of him that whenever he comes home, she hides,” the complaint said.
DCW chairperson Barkha Singh said Ms. Bharti told her that her husband would kill her.
“She looked very distressed and had bruises on her body. She told us that he has been beating her up ever since they got married in 2010. She said when Mr. Bharti married her, he had lied to her about owning an international law firm,” Ms. Singh told The Hindu .
