File photo: Aam Aadmi Party leader Mayank Gandhi
Aam Aadmi Party leader Mayank Gandhi, along with five others, have been booked on charges of abetting sexual harassment after a 21-year-old female party volunteer filed a criminal complaint against them in Mumbai, police said today.
While AAP activist Tarun Singh has been booked under Section 354 (a) (sexual harassment), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code, Mr Gandhi and four others have been booked on charges of abetting the crime, a police officer at the Oshiwara police station said.
"The offence had occurred in April this year in suburban Oshiwara, before the Lok Sabha elections," said Additional Police Commissioner Milind Bharambe.
"Based on the allegations levelled by the victim, an FIR was registered on Friday. The victim alleged that she brought to Mr Gandhi's notice the sexual advancements made by some party workers, but he did not pay heed to them. She approached the local police who then registered the FIR," Mr Bharambe said.
Refuting the charge, Mr Gandhi described the complaint as "politically motivated".
"When the female volunteer had complained to me against Tarun Singh, saying he was harassing her, I pulled him up and immediately suspended him from the party. I asked the volunteer if she wanted to lodge an FIR against Tarun, but she refused," Mr Gandhi told PTI.
An internal committee of the party had been inquiring into the matter, Mr Gandhi said.