Girl accuses BJP leader of harassment. Day later, goes missing
What's the story
A law student from Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur levels harassment allegations on BJP leader and former Union Minister Swami Chinmayanand. A day later, she goes missing. That's Yogi Adityanath's state for you. The victim had posted a video on social media claiming Chinmayanand molested her and "destroyed the lives of several girls". She sought help from PM Modi and CM Adityanath. Clearly, in vain.
Leader
First of all, who is this Swami Chinmayanand?
Born in 1947 to a royal family in Avadh, Chinmayanand renounced his royalty. In 1999, he was elected to 13th Lok Sabha from Jaunpur. In the third ministry of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Chinmayanand was the minister of state (MoS) for internal affairs. In 2011, a girl who spent years at his ashram accused him of rape. Last year, Adityanath's government withdrew the case.
Video
Student of law college said Chinmayanand destroyed lives of girls
Chinmayanand is also the director of Shahjahanpur's SS Law College, where the girl, who went missing, pursued LLM. In her video, she said, "A big leader of the saint society, who has destroyed the lives of several girls, has been threatening me with life. I have all the pieces of evidence against him." She said Chinmayanand "flaunted" about his clout often.
Allegations
Girl requested PM Modi to help her
As the girl tried to fight back her tears in the video, she said Chinmayanand has threatened to kill her family. "Only I know what I have been going through. Modi ji please help me, he is a sanyasi and is threatening that the police, DM and everyone else is on his side and no one can harm him," she pleaded.
Family's woes
Further, statement of girl's father proves she had anticipated troubles
The clip surfaced on Friday, and she is untraceable since Saturday. Her father told she came home during Raksha Bandhan. "I asked her why her phone remained switched off so frequently. She said, 'if my phone goes off for long duration then understand that I am in trouble. My phone will go off only when it is not in my hands'," he told News18.
Details
Her father approached police, but no one took cognizance
The worried father revealed that his daughter was being shifted to Nainital by the college administration. Adding that she went through a lot of pain but didn't talk much, the father said, "She looked worried when she was home on Raksha Bandhan. She has been missing for four days." Despite a written complaint, no FIR has been registered against Chinmayanand, he claimed.
FIR
Subsequently, Chinmayanand's lawyer filed an FIR alleging blackmail
On being questioned about the series of events, SSP Shahjahanpur said he has no information about the video. Though Chinmayanand hasn't said anything about the allegations, his lawyer Om Singh filed an FIR against an unknown person for trying to blackmail the leader, reports ThePrint. In his complaint, Singh claimed Chinmayanand received a WhatsApp message demanding Rs. 5 crore from him.
Do you know?
Police have launched an investigation
According to Singh, the "blackmailer" said he has a video which could "harm" the BJP leader's image. The lawyer alleged that a scary environment is being created to malign the educational institution. A probe has been launched, a senior police official said.