‘Perpetrators pretending to be victims’: Dhruv Rathee’s post after Maliwal claim

Dhruv Rathee, the popular YouTuber, has in a post on X referred to “fake allegations” against him and wrote that he was used to coordinated campaigns to defame him.

“Fake allegations against me, daily death threats, dehumanizing insults, coordinated campaigns to defame me …. I’m used to it by now. The irony is that perpetrators are pretending to be victims. Everyone knows who is behind all this. They want to silence me. But that’s not gonna happen. If you silence 1 Dhruv Rathee, 1000 new ones will rise up. Jai Hind,” he wrote on his post on the social media platform on Monday evening (May 27).

Maliwal's claim

He was seemingly responding to the allegation by AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal on Sunday (May 26) that she was receiving rape and death threats after what she called a “character assassination” campaign allegedly orchestrated by her own party leaders and volunteers, and that the situation escalated after Dhruv Rathee posted a “one-sided video against her”.

“After the leaders and volunteers of my party i.e. AAP orchestrated a campaign of character assassination, victim shaming, and fanning of emotions against me, I have been getting rape and death threats. This got further exacerbated when YouTuber Dhruv Rathee posted a one-sided video against me,” she posted on X.

She also wrote that she tried her best to reach out to Rathee to tell him her version of what had happened, but he ignored her calls and messages. She said it was very clear that the party leadership was trying to intimidate her into withdrawing her complaint.

“It is shameful that people like him, who claim to be independent journalists, could act like other AAP spokespersons and victim shame me to the extent that I am now facing extreme abuses and threats.”

Dhruv Rathee’s video

In his video about the incident, Rathee said Swati Maliwal could be seen throwing abuses at the staff members in Kejriwal’s home. He said CCTV footage showed her walking out of the residence and crossing the road, and she seemed totally fine.

“But when she went for a medical test, she had some problem walking. So is she lying?” he questioned.

He also said that the accused in the case, Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar, had also filed a complaint against Maliwal stating that she came to the CM’s residence without an appointment, and when he denied her permission to meet Kejriwal and stood in front of her, she pushed him and threatened to frame him in false cases.

Swati’s rejoinder about Rathee’s video

Swati Maliwal in her long post on X pointed out “facts that he failed to mention in his 2.5-minute video against me”:

· Party took a U-turn on its stand after accepting the incident has happened.

· MLC report that reveals injuries due to the assault.

· Selected part of the video was released and then phone of the accused was formatted?

· The accused was arrested from the crime scene (CM house). Why was he allowed to enter the place again? For tampering of evidence?

· How a woman who always stood for the right issues, even went to Manipur alone without security could be bought over by the BJP?

She said the manner in which the entire party machinery and it supporters had attempted to vilify and shame her spoke volumes about their stand on women issues. She said she was reporting the rape and death threats to the Delhi Police and she hoped they took strong action against the perpetrators.

“In any case, if something happens to me, we know who all instigated it,” she concluded her post.

Bibhav Kumar was arrested on May 18 by the Delhi Police in connection with his alleged assault on Swati Maliwal in the CM Arvind Kejriwal’s home on May 13. A court in Delhi on Monday (May 27) rejected his bail plea.