New Delhi: Former Delhi law minister and AAP MLA Somnath Bharti was acquitted by a Delhi court on Tuesday for allegedly leading a mob to assault a woman from Congo in South Delhi in 2014 after she didn’t show up for the deposition in court.“Vide separate judgment directly dictated and pronounced in the open court, accused namely Somnath Bharti stands acquitted for offences punishable under section 323 IPC read with section 149 IPC, section 147 and section 109 IPC,” the court said in its order.Weeks after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) first came to power in Delhi in 2014, Bharti and his supporters were accused of assaulting several women from African countries during a raid in the Khirki Extension locality. A student at Amity University in Noida and a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mukoko Misa Tresor, was allegedly assaulted by a mob led by Bharti.An FIR was registered on September 26, 2014, following which the court framed charges against Bharti under IPC sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 147 (punishment for rioting), read with section 149 and under section 109. The Delhi police, in its chargesheet said, “nine African women were victims of molestation and manhandling by a mob led by then Law Minister Somnath Bharti”.Also read: India’s Racial Prejudice Is Jeopardising Ties With African NationsIn March 2018, a Delhi court had dismissed Bharti’s petition seeking further investigation into the alleged assault.According to a report in the Indian Express, additional chief metropolitan magistrate Harvinder Singh acquitted Bharti of the aforementioned offences. The prosecutor appearing for the police, said all the “material witnesses have been examined” following which the court closed all prosecution evidence.Records show that Tresor never turned up to depose. As per the national daily, multiple summonses were issued to Tresor, which went unserved.On March 3, the court observed in its order, “… It will not be out of place to mention that process for service of complainant witness Mukoko Misa Tresor was initiated in November, 2018; since then, sufficient time… has been granted to prosecution to ensure her presence… court cannot wait indefinitely for appearance of complainant; matter has to be proceeded further by dropping said witness.”Bharti subsequently told the court that he did “not want to lead evidence”, following which the defence evidence was closed.