UP student, who accused Chinmayanand of rape, produced in court amid tight security

Chinmayanand

Swami Chinmayanand (File Photo: IANS)


The law student, who has accused BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand of sexual harassment, was on Monday produced in Shahjahanpur court under heavy security for recording her statement.

With her face covered by a black dupatta, the 23-year-old was escorted by several policewomen as she arrived in the court.

The law student of the Swami Shukdevanand Law College student in Shahjahanpur had appeared before the press last Monday alleging that she was raped and exploited for over a year by the BJP leader.

“Swami Chinmayanand raped me and even exploited me physically for one year,” she alleged before the media.

The woman claimed she went into hiding after gathering video proof to substantiate her allegations against Chinmayanand, a powerful politician who was Minister of State for Home in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led BJP government.

The incident came to light when she went missing on August 24, a day after she uploaded a video on the social media seeking help from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Her family accused the senior BJP leader of kidnapping her.

Chinmayanand, who runs several ashrams and institutions, allegedly helped her with her admission into the law college and urged her to move into the hostel.

The BJP leader is accused of calling her to his room, blackmailing her with a clip of her taking a bath and raping her repeatedly. The woman also alleges she was often taken to his room by his aides at gunpoint and forced to give him massages.

The video clips of Chinmayanand being given a massage have already gone viral on social media.

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

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.

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.