Woman alleges sexual assault by Sonia Gandhi secretary, Delhi Police file case

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police has filed an FIR under sections related to sexual assault and criminal intimidation against P P Madhavan, who is Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s personal secretary. The cops are investigating the allegations made by a 26-year-old Dalit woman. The FIR was filed on June 26 at Uttam Nagar police station in southwest Delhi.
“A complaint was received at PS Uttam Nagar on June 25.A case u/s 376 and 506 of IPC has been registered. The allegations have been levelled against a 71-year-old person. He is working as PS to a senior political leader. We are investigating the matter,” said DCP (Dwarka) Harsha Vardhan.
The woman has claimed in her complaint that her husband had been putting up hoardings for the Congress party office since 2018 during which she started visiting the office. Her husband passed away in 2020 and she was in a very poor financial condition.
She said she then called up Madhavan and he promised her a job. “He started talking to me on the phone regularly,” she said.
On January 21 this year, the woman claimed, he called her for an interview to a house in Sunder Nagar area where her documents were taken. The woman alleged that Madhavan started getting friendly and told her about his divorce. “He told me to marry him and I also accepted the proposal and started speaking to him on video and audio calls,” she said.
According to her complaint, Madhavan asked her to meet him at night near Uttam Nagar West Metro. She took a cab to the station and then switched to his car. He asked his driver to step out.
The woman has alleged that Madhavan then hugged and kissed her and sexually assaulted her. When she protested, he left her on the spot. She has claimed that he apologised to her the next day on phone but sexually assaulted her once again in February at a house in Sundar Nagar.
She has alleged that he later asked her to have a physical relationship with another person and also threatened that he would make her disappear. He also offered her money.
“I have chats and video and audio evidence of his act,” the woman said in the FIR.
When contacted by TOI, Madhavan said: “It’s a baseless allegation. Just an attempt at frame up.”