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WATCH: The Dog That Lacks Bite Is Somnath Bharti's Defence Strategy

The Dog That Lacks Bite Is Somnath Bharti's Defence Strategy
ANI

Embroiled in a case of domestic violence and at the centre of an extremely-public spat with his wife, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Somnath Bharti on Wednesday decided to rubbish her claim that his dog Don attacked her, in a dramatic, live demonstration before the media.

Bharti trotted the canine in front of a posse of cameramen and tried to coax him to bite him. All this to prove that the dog did NOT attack on command as claimed by Lipika Mitra, Bharti's estranged wife.

"You cannot force a pet to attack a family member," Bharti proffered as proof to the reporters, "Look he's standing right here. Hello! Bite, bite! Is he biting? Not even after I'm asking it to."

A bemused Don, who probably had limited understanding of what was going on, stood by Bharti, his tongue lolling out, as cameras panned his every move.

Somnath Bharti coaxes his dog to bite him to show media that the dog doesn't bite on command, late last night. pic.twitter.com/WE2fIVuSB8

— ANI (@ANI_news) September 16, 2015

After a day of speculation that he was untraceable, Bharti surrendered before the Delhi Police today to join the investigation.

He had approached the Delhi High Court for anticipatory bail on Tuesday, and surrendered hours after he was given protection against arrest till September 17, IANS reported.

Lipika had alleged that Bharti had set his dog on her and used to hit her in the bedroom of their home.

Bharti pooh-poohed Lipika's allegations saying "The allegation of attempt to murder has been put on me by the lady, who says 'sweet heart when you will come home, I will take care of you' in an SMS. This SMS was sent to me by her on February 25, 2015. Can you imagine a wife will say that to a husband who is trying to murder her?"

He denied he had gone into hiding.

"I was not hiding from the world. What I was trying to do.. it is Modi's police and I don't want to give into Modi police because their intention was not only to arrest me but also torture... I just wanted one day and I am going to give whatever they want. All proofs which will build the case further," he said.

"It's absolutely a matrimonial affair. She (Mitra) is being misused for political purposes. Political parties have ganged up against me, attempting to damage my party (AAP) through me taking advantage of her innocence and gullibility," Bharti said.

Earlier Bharti had produced the dog before the police. Sitting in the back seat of his car, Don has been the centre of attention of mediapersons ever since his role came up in the case.

Unhone 'dog' ki demand kari, mai sath le ja rha hun, rakh lijiye aap, investigation ke liye laya hun: Somnath Bharti pic.twitter.com/dfVfn543bu

— ANI (@ANI_news) September 15, 2015

Twitter had a field day with the AAP MLA's little stunt.

You rem Bol Radha Bol? In that Rishi Kapoor had an evil look alike and so did the dog. What if Somnath is only showing us the good dog?

— Naomi Datta (@nowme_datta) September 16, 2015

.@ANI_news हो सकता है कुत्ते का मुड ना हो सुअर के काटने का 😂😂 🏃

— subedaar tyagi (@tyagispeaks) September 16, 2015

@ANI_news Samajhdaar kutta kabhi bhi paagal kutte ko nahi kaat ta.

— Vidhu Pal (@raahilmahajan96) September 16, 2015

@ANI_news and the dog is like shit man what are you doing ? Need to hide some where

— Susan Bernard (@SusanBernard23) September 16, 2015

@ANI_news weed weed weed

— aditya (@KothariAdutya) September 16, 2015

@ANI_news there is a glich, a dog never bites his master, had he coaxed his dog to bite a journo, truth wud hv cm out. Bt who wud volunteer?

— Enjoyneer. (@Achin_jaipur) September 16, 2015

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.