Shahjahanpur rape case: BJP leader Chinmayanand arrested by UP SIT

Chinmayanand has been accused of raping a law student and threatening to kill her and her family.
Shahjahanpur rape case: BJP leader Chinmayanand arrested by UP SIT
Shahjahanpur rape case: BJP leader Chinmayanand arrested by UP SIT
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A Special Investigation Team from Uttar Pradesh arrested BJP leader Chinmayanand on Friday. Chinmayanand, who is accused of raping a student, was taken for a medical exam.

The 73-year-old former BJP MP, who was also the Union Minister of State for Home, was on Thursday shifted to the Shahjahanpur government hospital. Chinamayanand was being treated by a team of doctors at his ashram at Mumukshu, where he was held under house arrest since September 13. He was shifted to the hospital after his health condition deteriorated.

The 23-year-old law student at Swami Shukdevanand Postgraduate College in Shahjahanpur, had on August 23 posted a video clip on social media alleging that Chinmayanand, the director of her college, was threatening to kill her and her family as she had evidences that could land him in trouble.

In the video, the girl 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. “A big leader of the saint society, who has destroyed the lives of several girls, has been threatening me with (my) life. I have all the evidences against him. I request Modi ji and Yogi ji to please help me. He has even threatened to kill my family,” she said in the video.

Just a day after she uploaded the video, the woman went missing on August 24 and was tracked down six days later and found in Rajasthan on August 30. Police officials stated that she and her family were given protection in view of the events.

Later, the student also alleged that she was raped and exploited for over a year by the BJP leader. She also alleged that the Shahjahanpur police in Uttar Pradesh had refused to file her FIR and hence, she decided to file a complaint in Delhi. The woman also accused the local District Magistrate of trying to threaten her parents for complaining against Chinmayanand, a three-time MP.

On August 29, Supreme Court agreed to take suo motu cognisance of the case after a plea from a group of lawyers requesting initiation of proceedings over the matter of the missing law student in order to avoid a repeat like the Unnao incident. On September 2, the Supreme Court ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the case.

On September 10, the man who claimed to be the brother of the victim handed over a pen drive to the SIT. The victim and her brother have claimed that if the SIT does a fair probe, this pen drive has some vital evidence against Chinmayanand. According to the victim's brother, the pen drive contains a video that is enough to expose the "real face" of the BJP leader. The SIT had also taken the law student to Chinmayanand's bedroom at the ashram and had collected evidence. 

Chinmayanand has been booked under IPC Sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) and 506 (criminal intimidation) based on a complaint by the father, who accused the former minister of state for Home of having sexually harassed his daughter.

Responding to the allegations, Chinmayanand stated that he was “being framed.”

"I do not want to influence the SIT probe into the matter but I am confident that the inquiry will reveal the truth," he said at a press conference. Appearing before the media for the first time after the allegations were levelled, the BJP leader said he was pained that the incident has taken place at a time when he was making efforts to elevate the SS College to the status of a University.

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