Midnight raid: Cops file fresh complaint against Somnath Bharti

New Delhi, Oct 3: A fresh complaint was filed against AAP MLA Somnath Bharti by the Delhi Police in a court here today alleging he had obstructed public servants from discharging their duty during his purported midnight-raid last year when some African women were allegedly molested.

The complaint was lodged after the police filed a supplementary final report in the court against Bharti in a case of alleged molestation of African women during the raid. In the complaint filed by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate(MM) Ankita Lal, it was alleged that Bharti had obstructed public servants from discharging their duties, an offence under section 186 of IPC, during the midnight raid on intervening night of January 15-16, 2014.

The court has now fixed October 30 for consideration of the charge sheet as well as the complaint against Bharti, who is currently in police custody in a domestic violence case filed by his wife, Lipika Mitra.

In its charge sheet filed on September 27 last year, Delhi Police had said that "nine African women were victims of molestation and manhandling by a mob led by then Law Minister Somnath Bharti".

Bharti and 17 others have been booked under various sections of the IPC, including 354 (outraging women's modesty), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 147 (rioting). The police had said the nine Ugandan women were allegedly beaten up and molested by the mob led by Bharti.

PTI