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AAP Leader Somnath Bharti's Wife And Mother Face Off At Dramatic Press Conference

Willing To Live In An Old Age Home If Son And Daughter-In-Law Patch Up, Says Somnath Bharti's Mother
PTI

NEW DELHI — It was high drama at the residence of Barkha Singh, chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women, as Somnath Bharti's mother gatecrashed a press conference held by his wife Lipika Mitra to announce her plans to end her marriage with the Aam Aadmi Party Leader and intention to take him to court.

(Photo: Anurag Dhanda on Twitter)

Bharti’s mother, Manorama Rani, who reached the south Delhi residence of Singh as the press conference was on, said she was willing to stay at an old age home if Bharti and his wife reconciled, according to media reports.

In a written statement, Rani said she wanted to live out the rest of her life in peace.

Lipika accused Bharti of domestic violence, claiming that he had unleashed dogs on her.

Stressing that she had never tried to implicate her mother-in-law, Lipika stated that she wants her marriage with the former Delhi Law Minister to end.

"I never implicated my mother in law, have forgiven her. She is not in the picture, I want out from the marriage," Mitra told ANI.

She had earlier alleged that her husband had asked her if she was working for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), adding that he started calling her everyday after she filed a complaint with the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW).

Lipika also disclosed that she has documentary and electronic evidence of the abuses suffered by her.

On June 10, the DCW served a notice to Bharti after Mitra accused him of domestic violence.

She has alleged that she has been facing violence at the hands of Bharti since 2010 and has said that she wants a separation in order to live with her children 'with dignity'.

"There has been no contact since the last incident of abuse from him on May 28. But the day I filed the complaint against him, on June 10, he has been sending me SMSes everyday... his love for me has suddenly come out; his concern for the children, which he never had...He asked me if I was working for the BJP," Lipika told the media.

Rani appealed to the DCW to intervene and help sort out the matter between Bharti and Lipika. Police personnel deployed at Singh's residence refused to let Rani enter the former's house.

Lipika said that she expected Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to hear her out in the case of domestic violence involving her husband.

"I expected Kejriwal to give me a fair chance and at least listen to me," Lipika Mitra, who has filed a complaint of domestic violence against her husband, told media here.

Mitra said she wanted no "reconciliation" with the former Delhi law minister and instead wanted an FIR registered against Bharti "after he made comments that he had no relations with me for last five years".

"He (Bharti) unleashed a dog on me and just stood watching me fight the animal until someone knocked at our door. It was only then that he shooed the dog away and dragged me to our bedroom," she said.

"In fact, whenever we used to have a fight, he always called me a prostitute," she said. The two met through a matrimonial website. "We had a love marriage," she said.

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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.