The law student from Uttar Pradesh, who had accused former minister Swami Chinmayanand of sexual harassment, on Monday alleged that she was raped and exploited for over a year by the BJP leader.

Addressing the press in UP’s Shahjahanpur, the woman, who was studying at a law college where Chinmayanand was the director, claimed that he exploited many more girls like her, but only she had the courage to come ahead and file a complaint.

“Swami Chinmayanand raped me and even exploited me physically for one year,” she alleged before the media, her face covered with a black scarf.

“I have every evidence of the crime… go and open my hostel room,” she added.

She also alleged that the Uttar Pradesh Police had refused to file her FIR and hence, she decided to file a complaint in Delhi.

“The Delhi Police has registered this complaint at the Lodhi Road police station and has forwarded it to Shahjahanpur police,” she said.

The woman also accused the local District Magistrate of trying to threaten her parents for complaining against Chinmayanand, a three-time MP.

“Here I was running for my life, and the DM of Shahjahanpur threatened my father that you must see against whom you are filing a complaint,” the girl said.

The Supreme Court, which heard the girl in a closed hearing, had last week directed the Uttar Pradesh government to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the allegations made against Swami Chinmayanand.

The top court had directed the Allahabad High Court to monitor the investigation on the complaint filed by the student.

Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh has been directed to provide police protection to the girl and her family until further orders.

The Supreme Court took up the matter after a group of lawyers wrote to Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.

The girl student, who went missing after levelling sexual harassment charges against Chinmayanand, was later traced to Rajasthan on August 30.

The student of the Swami Shukdevanand Law College student in Shahjahanpur had accused the BJP leader of “destroying the lives of several girls” and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for help. She went missing three days after the allegations were made.

The UP police has, meanwhile, lodged an FIR against Chinmayanand under IPC Sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) and 506 (criminal intimidation) based on a complaint by the father of the girl who accused the former minister of state for Home of having sexually harassed his daughter and kidnapping her.

Chinmayanand is a three-time Lok Sabha MP and was a minister of state in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. In 2011, he was accused of rape by an inmate of his ashram. When she got pregnant, Chinmayanand allegedly forced her to have an abortion.

Meanwhile, the Congress on Tuesday criticised the BJP governments at the Centre and in UP, accusing them of “incompetence” in dealing with crimes against women.

Addressing a press conference here, Congress spokesperson Ragini Nayak said, “The blatant example of criminal history is being repeated and it can be seen in the largest state of this country (Uttar Pradesh) which is ruled by the BJP.”

“A girl came forward and complained that she was raped by BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand for a year. Now there’s this video where she’s saying that she – the victim – was questioned by SIT (Special Investigation Team) for 11 hours on Sunday while the accused has not even been questioned for 11 minutes,” Nayak said.

She also accused the UP Police of playing into the hands of the Yogi government.

“In this incident, one can clearly see the incompetence of the BJP, Modi government and Yogi Adityanath government when it comes to dealing with crimes against women,” she added.

(With inputs from IANS)