'I am very upset and hurt'

Rahul Mahajan's second wife, Kolkata model, Dimpy, who left his Worli house in Mumbai late on Thursday following violent domestic abuse, on Friday said she was very upset and hurt and needed some time to recover from the episode.

"I am very upset and need some time to recover from it. I talked to Rahul over the phone and he has regretted his actions. We both are upset.

"Rahul is extremely upset and has apologized for all that happened on Thursday morning," she added.

Television reports said Dimpy has returned to her marital home and added that the Mahajans and the Gangulys are working out their differences.

Earlier on Friday, Dimpy said Rahul beat her up on Thursday after waking her up to know the contents of a message that had just beeped on her phone. Since the phone had the keypad lock on, Rahul was unable to operate it.

When Dimpy asked him to let her sleep, he flew into a rage and began hitting her. She said he punched, kicked and dragged her by her hair.

When she could not take it any more, Dimpy pushed him, picked up her phone, ran down the stairs and hid in the passageway. This was at 3.30 am. Dimpy then called a friend, who picked her up at around 4 am.

Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath on Friday said a panel will look into the report, if Dimpy files a complaint.

"I will ask the National Commission for Women (NCW) to look into the matter if she (Dimpy) lodges a formal complaint with us. Domestic violence in no way is acceptable," said Tirath.

Rahul Mahajan, the son of the late Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pramod Mahajan, married Dimpy on the TV reality show Rahul Dulhaniya Le Jayega in March this year.

Image: Rahul and Dimpy Mahajan. Photograph: Pradeep Bandekar