Rahul Mahajan a ‘Wifebeater’ – Fabrication or Reality?

Son of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, Rahul Mahajan seems to be making news headlines his second home and that too for all the wrong reasons. Some people consider any sort of publicity as a ‘good thing’ but the career which Mahajan Jr. has chosen for himself – such negative headlines would only harm his intended political aspirations.

Barely a month after his father’s untimely death, Rahul along with his father’s close associate Bibek Maitra were found knocking on heaven’s door with an overdose of lethal drugs. Though Rahul was lucky to get away alive but so was not the case with his crime-partner; Bibek was pronounced dead on reaching Apollo Hospital.

Since then the Mahajan family (and their well-wishers) has been busy indulging in damage-control tactics by showcasing Rahul’s public appearances in a more sympathetic light – an innocent man caught up in a vicious political war.

Still fighting to prove his innocence in the drugs consumption case, Rahul now has exposed another shade of grey in his character with the accusation of being a ‘wife-beater’ and a near-collapse of his two-and-a-half month old marriage.

Shweta Mahajan photograph published in Mid-Day

Mid-Day Reports:

Rahul Mahajan’s wife Shweta Singh is on the verge of ending their two-and-a-half month old marriage because of relentless “physical and verbal abuse” by her husband, a source close to the family told MiD DAY.

The latest in a series of assaults on Shweta occurred last Wednesday, leaving her with a cut lip, a bruised arm, a sore back – and the realization that she had to get out of the marriage.

The incident took place in a car during Rahul’s visit to Delhi last week. To add to Shweta’s humiliation, the beating took place in the presence of two of Rahul’s friends. The source said, Rahul “hit Shweta repeatedly… he caught her by the hair, slapped her on the face, banging her head against the seat. Once, she was hunched over, he kept hitting her on the back with his fists.”

The source said Rahul abused and threatened Shweta and her family throughout, and “vowed” to destroy them.

Not everyone was happy with the marriage.

Shweta, a qualified pilot, is the daughter of a retired brigadier. She grew up in a very protected, fairly conservative environment. Given the controversies surrounding Rahul, Shweta’s father wasn’t very keen that she marry him, say sources, but Rahul’s persistence seems to have influenced her mother.

But things have changed dramatically since, transforming the once bubbly, girlish, Shweta to a woman who wears a permanently haunted look.

According to sources, she has been trying to convince Rahul to agree to a ”quiet separation”.

But Rahul isn’t willing – such a move could adversely affect his political plans and the ongoing court case on drugs charges. But the couple is, for all practical purposes, separated. Shweta refuses to go back to Rahul’s Mumbai flat and lives in Delhi under the constant watch of her mother.

Not surprisingly, the Mahajan’s have a different story to tell. And according to them the entire accusation has been fabricated.

Denying the report, Mahajan said: “This is totally baseless. We are both shocked at this news report. In fact, this is invasion of privacy. They are not even bothered to take our reaction before making these allegations.”

Shweta, who was in Dehra Dun also echoed her husband’s claims and said that “all these allegations are totally baseless. I sustained some bruises when I was trying to ride Rahul’s bike and fell down. Please respect our privacy.”

“I am in Dehra Dun on a planned holiday and not because I had a fight with my husband. Do not read anything into this”, she further went on to say.

“Photographs like this can be doctored using all kinds of software. This is not true,” Rahul insisted, when asked about the accompanying photograph.

“Shweta is in Dehra Dun and on her return we will discuss the matter and contemplate some action”, Rahul said.

“Our family has been constantly hit by some crises in the last few months but we will face it”, Rahul said.

Frankly speaking, to say that folks behind Mid-Day (a daily newspaper) have imagined the whole thing, would be down-right stupid. The Indian media could be blamed for adopting cunning tactics and spicing up news-stories but it’s very unlikely that they would publish such incidents without any substantial proof.

Shweta Mahajan’s explanation that the bruises on her body were a result of falling from her husband’s bike, to me sounds completely lame and un-believable.

Anyways as a third-party, we people can only sit and speculate – the real truth is known only by those involved. For the lady’s sake, I hope the accusation of her husband being a ‘wife-beater’ is untrue. But if Shweta is hiding away from the truth just to save her family reputation or under some kind-off threat then she is only endangering herself and her future.