A woman activist of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi, who had accused her party colleague of sexually harassing her, committed suicide on Tuesday.
Her family claims she had been depressed since the man she had complained against was released on bail. AAP has disowned the accused man but the state government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the case. "Have ordered magistrate inquiry in AAP activist suicide case in Narela. DM north will do the inquiry," tweeted Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
The woman allegedly took poison at her home in Narela in north-west Delhi. She died in hospital.
"The woman had filed a complaint against party colleague Ramesh Wadhwa for allegedly touching her inappropriately. A case of molestation was registered in June and the accused was arrested," a senior police officer told.
The woman's family says she suspected that Mr Wadhwa was being protected by an AAP lawmaker.
Have ordered magistrate inquiry in AAP activist suicide case in Narela. DM north will do the inquiry.
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) July 20, 2016
Delhi's opposition BJP has seized the case and accused AAP of ignoring its activist's complaint.
"This girl had been raising the issue of her harassment for months but AAP leaders ignored it. This incident has established anti-woman character of AAP," Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay said in a statement that even targeted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
AAP has rejected the allegations and accused the BJP of playing politics over the woman's death.
"There is no mention of any lawmaker's name in any of the complaints. Whosoever is alleged to have harassed the girl has no connection with the party. The BJP should not stoop this low and play politics over the death of a poor girl. We also want action against the culprit," AAP spokesperson Deepak Bajpai said.
