Chinmayanand held for rape

Lucknow, September 20

The special investigation team (SIT) on Friday finally arrested BJP MP Swami Chinmayanand in a case of alleged rape levelled by a law student against him. He has been sent to judicial custody for 14 days.

However, instead of registering the rape charge under Section 375 of the IPC, the SIT registered a case under Section 376 which pertains to “misusing authority for sexual intercourse” or “sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape” leading to allegations of the charge being watered down.

Three men known to the woman were also arrested in an extortion case filed by Chinmayanand’s team. The woman has not been charged but the police claim she is involved in the case. According to the police, the charges were lodged on the basis of the videos handed over by the complainant.

SIT head, Naveen Arora, IG, confirmed Chinmayanand had accepted that the videos were genuine. The complainant, however, protested against the charge being watered down saying she had pressed the rape charge and denied links with extortion cases. The SIT team picked up Chinmayanand from his Shahjahanpur ashram. He was sent for medical examination before being produced in the court. 

The Swami is the president of the college where the law student was enrolled. She had disappeared after posting a video on the social media in which she did not name anyone. But the missing person complaint filed by her father mentioned Chinmayanand.

On the father’s complaint, the UP police booked Chinmayanand on the charge of kidnapping on August 27. Finally, on August 30, she was traced in Rajasthan. An SIT was then constituted on the directions of the Supreme Court which also ordered the transfer of the student and her brother to another college.

However, despite the complainant recording her statement in the court under Section 164 of the CrPC on September 16, the police did not arrest Chinmayanand who has been in and out of hospital complaining of chest pain. The police arrested him finally when she threatened to commit suicide if justice was not done. — TNS