A 47-year-old man has been arrested and had his car confiscated for allegedly molesting, assaulting and dragging the chief of the Delhi Commission for Women Swati Maliwal 15 metres down a road early on Thursday.
"The accused, Harish Chandra, 47, was in an inebriated state and has been arrested. A medical examination of the accused and victim was done," Delhi Police said in a statement.
The attack occured near the capital city's premier hospital AIIMS while Maliwal was visiting the locality to gain first-hand experience about the situation of women's safety in the area.
"If the chairperson of the woman's commission is not safe in Delhi, then imagine the situation," Maliwal later tweeted.
The women's commission chief stated that she was standing on the footpath at 3.11 am when the man stopped his Baleno car close by and asked her to get inside. When she turned down his advances, he reportedly left only to return after a few minutes.
As he pressed her to join him in the vehicle, Maliwal allegedly tried to get hold of him through the window, but he quickly rolled it up, trapping her hand. The man then drove off, dragging her down the road. The politician eventually managed to free her hand, her statement indicated.