Chinmayanand raped, assaulted me for a year: Law student

The Indian Express
Lucknow, Sep 10: The Shahjahnpur law student, who had accused BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand of harassment, on Monday alleged that the former Union Minister had raped her and sexually assaulted her for a year.
Addressing a press conference in Shahjahanpur, her face covered with a black scarf, she also alleged that the police in Shahjahanpur were not registering a rape case against Chinmayanand. “Swami Chinmayanand raped me and has been sexually assaulting me for the last one year… The harassment started after I started staying at the (law college) hostel,” she said. Chinmayanand is president of the law college’s management committee.
“On Sunday, the SIT questioned me for about 11 hours… I told them about the rape… I told SIT officials that Chinmayanand had sexually assaulted me for the last one year. I told them that I had filed an FIR against Chinmayanand on charges of rape at the Lodhi Colony police station in Delhi… The Uttar Pradesh police should lodge an FIR against Chinmayanand on rape charges and arrest him,” she said.
She said she had evidence against Chinmayanand in her hostel room, which has been sealed. “I have all the proof. The hostel room should be opened,” she said, adding that she would produce the proof at an appropriate time.
She alleged that when her father went to file a complaint last month, Shahjahanpur District Magistrate Indra Dev Singh had “issued threats”. Singh could not be contacted.
Additional DGP, Bareilly zone, Avinash Chandra said, “I have no idea about the case she has filed in Delhi. The SIT must be knowing about it and they are not sharing any details with us.” The law student was reported missing from Shahjahanpur on August 23, a day after she posted a video on social media alleging that an “influential leader of the sant community” was harassing and threatening to kill her.
Her father had accused Chinmayanand of harassing her and other students. On August 27, Chinmayanand, who has denied the charges, was booked under Sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC based on the father’s complaint. The law student was traced to Rajasthan on August 30, and produced before the SC, which took suo motu cognizance of the matter.
“I uploaded the video after escaping from Shahjahanpur to alert my family that there is threat to their life also. The youth who was with me when police caught me in Rajasthan is my brother,” she said today. Last Monday, the Supreme Court had asked the Uttar Pradesh government to set up a special investigation team to “address her grievances”.