Law student, who accused BJP leader Chinmayanand of rape, arrested
Weeks ago, a 23-year-old law student alleged BJP leader Chinmayanand, who wields immense power in Uttar Pradesh, raped her. This morning, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrested her for trying to extort money from the former Union Minister. She was arrested despite a local court saying that it would hear her plea regarding anticipatory bail on Thursday. It doesn't get more cruel than this!
The student, who pursued her degree from SS Law College in Shahjahanpur, had released a clip last month pleading UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "save her" from a "big leader of saint community". She went missing a day later and was found a week after that. In her interaction with media, she alleged Chinmayanand raped her repeatedly.
The case took explosive turns with time. The survivor said Chinmayanand violated her for a year, his "men" brought her to him on gunpoint, and she was forced to give him massages. Earlier this year, she decided to collect evidence and filmed the abuse with a camera fitted on her specs. She has handed over several clips to the Supreme Court-appointed SIT.
Naturally, Chinmayanand's lawyers refuted the serious allegations. Not stopping at claiming innocence, his team filed an extortion case against her. It's important to note that the 72-year-old leader, who was arrested last week and sent to judicial custody, confessed to getting naked in front of the woman and receiving massages. However, he has not been booked for rape. Go figure!
Meanwhile, this morning the woman was arrested from her home and the scenes at the spot weren't pleasant. Her family said police personnel arrived at the door and almost "dragged" her out. She wasn't even wearing slippers at the time. The swarm of officers then took her to a hospital and subsequently arrested her. Her father said she was forced to "sign a memo".
Ironically, on Monday the woman had prayed to Allahabad High Court to give her protection from arrest, but the division bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Manju Rani Chauhan asked her to approach an appropriate court. The woman also said she wanted to re-record her statement claiming the one given to magistrate wasn't proper. The bench, which is overlooking SIT's probe, denied this too.
Separately, the SIT has arrested three men, known to the woman, for allegedly trying to extort money from Chinmayanand. They have reportedly confessed to the crime. Yesterday, the SIT took two of them, namely Sachin and Vikram, on remand for further investigation. However, the woman had denied being involved with them and claimed "drama was being created" to weaken her case.
