Chinmayanand Case: The woman is a second year student at a law college in Shahjahanpur.
A law student who has accused the BJP's Chinmayanand of rape and blackmail spent five hours at a court in Uttar Pradesh today as she gave her statement. The 23-year-old was escorted by more than 50 policemen and woman cops to the court in Shahjahanpur, her face covered by a black dupatta.
The woman, a second year student at a law college in Shahjahanpur run by Chinmayanand, has accused the former Union Minister of sexually assaulting her for a year. But despite her written testimony, the UP police are yet to charge him with rape.
The allegations surfaced when the woman went missing on August 24 after putting up a Facebook post, without naming Chinmayanand. Her family accused the senior BJP leader of kidnapping her.
The woman, tracked down by the UP police six days later, reportedly shared her account in a closed hearing at the Supreme Court, which ordered a Special Investigation Team of the UP police to inquire into her charges.
Sources say in a 12-page written complaint to the Delhi Police, the woman has described what she alleges was a year of sexual assault, blackmail and threats. The Delhi police has forwarded this complaint to the Uttar Pradesh police.
The woman claims 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.
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. He 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 this room by his aides at gunpoint and forced to give him massages.
Chinmayanand was questioned for seven hours last week by the SIT, which has denied that it has been holding off on taking any step against the BJP leader.
The woman, speaking to the media last week, claimed evidence was removed from the bedroom of Chinmayanand's ashram where the alleged sexual assault took place. The evidence, said the woman, was removed before the UP police's SIT reached the scene on Friday alongwith her . Reports say the SIT recovered other forensic evidence, including a towel and soap from the ashram . The woman says she has handed over a second pen drive, which reportedly contains more video evidence in support of her allegations, to the officers of the SIT.