Love My Wife, Says AAP's Somnath Bharti, Accused of Trying to Kill Her

New Delhi: Accompanied by his labrador, Somnath Bharti, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, showed up at a police station in southwest Delhi last night to refute allegation that he is dodging a criminal inquiry.

Mr Bharti, the former Law Minister of Delhi, said police teams were assigned to search for him and his dog even though both remain perfectly accessible. Speaking to NDTV, Mr Bharti said, "Even when I went to police station last night, nothing happened. Even over the phone, the cops said there was no mention in the order that they need me. Yet police teams were being sent all over to look for me."

The 41-year-old politician has been accused by his wife of attempting to murder her and of domestic abuse. Lipika Mitra, whom Mr Bharti married in 2010, appeared in court on Tuesday to describe her husband as a manipulative man trying to coerce her to drop the charges against him. The Delhi High Court has said Mr Bharti cannot be arrested at least till tomorrow.

The judge and the police both referred to Mr Bharti's dog, Don, in the hearing; the 12-year-old retriever was allegedly ordered by its owner to bite Ms Mitra when she was heavily pregnant.
 "All charges are false. I will prove it. I love my wife," said Mr Bharti, proclaiming that she "is being used for political reasons" to embarrass him.

Mr Bharti's Aam Aadmi Party or AAP has stated that he should cooperate with the police; till last night, he had skipped appointments with investigators. "Prime Minister Modi is so distraught by Aam Admi party that they want to arrest as many of us (as possible), said Mr Bharti, echoing his party's complaint that its legislators are harassed through unwarranted police cases. "This is not Somnath's embarrassment. It's an embarrassment for AAP," he said, though the party has carefully labelled the case "a personal matter".