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Journalism of Courage
From emerging as one of the prominent faces of the then-fledgling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the wake of the Nirbhaya gangrape case in December 2012 to becoming the newest AAP leader to be nominated by the Arvind Kejriwal-led party to the Rajya Sabha now – Swati Maliwal, 39, has traversed a long distance in public life in a span of 11 years.
In 2015, when the Kejriwal government appointed her Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson, Maliwal, then 31, became the youngest-ever women panel head — a decade after she chose activism over a corporate career soon after graduating from her college, when she joined Kejriwal’s then NGO “Parivartan”.
During her eight-year stint as the DCW chief, Maliwal raised her voice against incidents of crimes against women in Delhi and other parts of the country. She has dealt with over 1.7 lakh such cases in the national capital during this period, as per the DCW.
Maliwal’s tenure at the DCW, however, got off to a rocky start as she found herself at the receiving end of corruption allegations levelled by her predecessor, Barkha Shukla Singh, a BJP leader, who accused her of being involved in alleged irregularities in appointments made to the body.
Acting on Barkha’s complaint, the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), in September 2016, filed an FIR against Maliwal in the case. This was followed by her questioning by the ACB, which reports to the Lieutenant Governor’s office.
The ACB filed a chargesheet against Maliwal and others under sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and criminal conspiracy in a city court in December 2016, stating that against 26 sanctioned posts in the DCW the accused appointed 87 persons, most of whom were AAP workers or associated with her. The court took cognisance of it in January 2017. The matter reached the Delhi High Court which, in March 2023, stayed the proceedings against her.
Maliwal has also grappled with some personal issues in public, including a disclosure of her “past sexual abuse” by her father and ending what she called was her “toxic marriage”.
Maliwal, who hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad, got a bachelor’s degree in information technology from the JSS Academy of Technical Education, Noida before joining Parivartan.
She became part of the 23-member core committee of the anti-corruption movement India Against Corruption, led by Anna Hazare, in Delhi in 2011 during which she is credited with having mobilised youth activists from across the country for it.
While helming the DCW, she always seemed to have exhibited quick response to incidents of crimes against women and children. Within a week of taking charge of the panel, she issued a summons to the Delhi Police commissioner after he declined to furnish data on crimes against women in the capital.
Maliwal is credited with having created a network of programmes within the DCW to support women: according to the panel’s records, its distress helpline 181 for women or children in need handled 40 lakh calls till Friday, when she stepped down from her position following her nomination to the Rajya Sabha polls by her party.
Maliwal’s another notable initiative was the appointment of a team of lawyers in all the trial courts to aid victims of sexual assault. Taking to Delhi streets to assess the safety of many such victims on her own, she led many rescue operations.
During her tenure, the DCW has rescued over 2,500 women and children from trafficking, child marriage, child labour, and illegal confinement. Some of these cases include saving 39 Nepali girls from potential trafficking to the Gulf countries, rescuing a 15-year-old girl sold into a brothel, and aiding in the rescue and rehabilitation of a severely abused 14-year-old domestic worker from Jharkhand.
She was also behind several night inspections during her ‘satyagraha’ campaign that she undertook in November 2017 and February 2018 to assess the safety of public places for women after dark.
In addition to shooting off a series of notices to the police in a case where pictures of some Muslim women were posted on an app for “online auction”, she also demanded action against those who posted lewd comments against cricketer Virat Kohli’s daughter.
She alleged that she faced rape threats for speaking out against director Sajid Khan, accused of sexual misconduct, for his inclusion in a reality television show Big Boss.
In 2018, following rape incidents involving two minor girls in Delhi and Kashmir, Maliwal started a “fast unto death”, advocating stringent laws and fast-track courts in child rape cases. After ten days, she ended her fast when the Centre passed an ordinance over the issue.
Days after a horrific hit-and-run incident on the night of December 31, 2022 in Delhi – when 21-year-old Anjali was dragged under a car by four men for several kms in Kanjhawala leading to her death – Maliwal claimed that she had come close to being sexually targeted in a similar way. She was however accused by the BJP of seeking to defame Delhi Police through what the party alleged was a “staged sting operation” that Maliwal had “arranged” with a TV channel.
In May 2023, Maliwal visited Manipur amid ethnic clashes there, following which she filed a report on crimes against women to various national authorities.
In the same month, Maliwal sat alongside female wrestlers, including Olympic medallists, at Jantar Mantar while they were protesting against alleged sexual harassment by BJP MP and ex-Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. She was detained and let go after a night in police custody only to rejoin the protest later.
