'BJP Has Abandoned Him': Shrikant Tyagi’s Wife After His Arrest

Anu Tyagi, the wife of Shrikant Tyagi, also said that their family was being treated "very badly."

A day after purported Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shrikant Tyagi was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police for abusing and assaulting a woman, his wife on Thursday, 11 August, that the BJP has "abandoned him" since the incident last week.

Anu Tyagi, wife of Shrikant Tyagi, told news agency PTI, "I have seen him attending programmes, events and rallies of the party. I wonder in what capacity he attended those events! Now he has been abandoned. I don't know why and I can't say why."

She said that the matter was being "dragged" and further alleged that since the incident, everything the family owned has now become "illegal", according to ANI.

"What happened was wrong, he should've apologised. The topic was that he insulted a woman. It should have been handled like that. But everything is now being dragged. Our car, trees, house, everything has suddenly become illegal."

Anu Tyagi, wife of Shrikanth Tyagi

Her statement comes after Tyagi was arrested on Tuesday, 9 August, from Meerut and sent to 14-day judicial custody.

Family Being Treated 'Very Badly,' Claims Wife

She further said that following Tyagi's arrest, their family was being treated "very badly."

"We were just planting trees. My husband was provoked. He would have said sorry and apologised. I, my children are being treated very badly by everyone around us," she said.

She alleged that there was "politics" in the case right from the society level to higher levels. Anu claimed that there were no complaints from their next door neighbours while the woman, who engaged in the spat with Shrikant, lives four towers away from their flat.

"Some of the society's residents had created so much pressure on the police and local authorities during the initial stages that fair investigation could not be carried out."

Anu Tyagi, wife of Shrikanth Tyagi

Anu also alleged that she had been mentally tortured and her family harassed during the entire investigation.

However, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Women Safety and Central Noida) Ankita Sharma disputed the allegations and said that Anu was treated with "utmost dignity," reported PTI.

The IPS officer, who herself had questioned Anu in the case, said, "No mistreatment was meted out to her during questioning or the family harassed."

Shrikanth Tyagi, after his arrest, said that the woman "is like a sister" to him and that a conspiracy was afoot to "politically decimate" him.

"I express my regret on the incident. She is like my sister, the incident is political and was done to politically decimate me," he said.

A day before his arrest, authorities razed a part of his house in Noida's Grand Omaxe housing society. Three of his associates were also held.

Tyagi claimed to be a leader in the BJP's Kisan Morcha. The party, however, has denied that he is even a member.

What's the Noida Society Case?

In a video that had gone viral, Tyagi was seen arguing with a woman resident of the Noida housing society after she raised objections against planting some trees by the purported BJP leader, citing violation of rules.

The woman had said, “Shrikant Tyagi lives on the ground floor in this society. He was encroaching upon the plants here and I asked him to remove the plants. At this, he said, ‘If you touch the plants then I will touch you.’ He abused me a lot and abused my husband and my child.”

He was charged under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 354 (assault or use of criminal force on any woman, intending to outrage or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby outrage her modesty).

Later, Sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), and 447 (punishment for criminal trespass) of the IPC were also added to the First Information Report (FIR).

The police also said that a separate case was lodged against Tyagi for having the official symbol of the UP government on his Toyota Fortuner, and added that they planned to slap charges of the Gangster Act on him.

(With inputs from ANI and PTI.)