Mohaniya arrested, ‘Emergency in Delhi’

 AAP MLA Dinesh Mohaniya was arrested on Saturday on charges of molestation and sexual harassment amidst high drama when he was addressing a press conference, triggering an angry reaction from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of declaring an “emergency” in the national Capital.

Mohaniya, who is also vice chairman of Delhi Jal Board, was virtually dragged from his seat by a police official when he was talking to reporters at his office in Khanpur in South Delhi, at around 12.10 pm.

He was sent to Tihar Jail till Monday by a Delhi court which rejected his bail plea. Duty Magistrate Anjani Mahajan dismissed the MLA’s bail application which claimed that his arrest on Saturday was meant only to humiliate him. “After thoughtful consideration, I am rejecting the bail plea. The accused (Mohaniya) is sent to judicial custody till June 27,” the magistrate said.

“Mohaniya has been arrested under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354 A (Sexual harassment), 354 B (Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and 354 C (Voyeurism), said Joint Commissioner of Police (South East) R P Upadhyay. 

Reacting sharply to the arrest of the party MLA, Kejriwal said in a tweet: “Modi declares emergency in Delhi. Arresting, raiding, terrorising, filing false cases against all those whom Delhi elected (sic).”

In another tweet, the Delhi CM said: “Dinesh mohaniya arrested from his press conference in front of all TV cameras. What msg does Modi want to give to everyone?”

Mohaniya is the eighth AAP MLA to be arrested by Delhi Police since the party came to power for the second time in Delhi in February, 2015.

The MLA was booked on June 23 for allegedly misbehaving with a group of women, who approached him with a complaint regarding water crisis in their locality. An FIR under Sections 323, 506 and 509 was registered in South Delhi’s Neb Sarai police station. The police added Sections 354 (assault or criminal force on woman), 354 A (making sexually coloured remarks), 354 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and 354 C (Any man who watches, or captures the image of a woman engaging in a private act) of IPC after two of the complainants presented themselves before a magistrate on Friday and their statements were recorded under Section 164 of CrPC. 

In their statements, the women alleged that Mohaniya also molested them during the tussle on June 22 as they had gone to complain to him against water problem faced by them.

In their complaint, they had earlier told police that the MLA and his men had verbally abused them and threatened them.

Another case has been registered against Mohaniya at Govindpuri Police Station for allegedly slapping a 60-year-old man in Tughlakabad area on Friday.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also attacked the Prime Minister, and said he has “failed to crush” the AAP in Delhi which is doing politics of honesty. “The way serious charges have been slapped on Mohaniya suggests that Modi is baffled... The way Delhi Police came to arrest AAP MLA is condemnable. 

Police picked up Mohaniya in the middle of a live press conference as if he is a notorious terrorist,” Sisodia said.