india

Updated: Sep 12, 2019 12:25 IST

A special investigation team on Wednesday took the student who has accused BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand of raping, and “physically exploiting” her for a year to a hospital for medical examination.

She was taken under heavy security to the local medical college hospital where Chief Medical Officer Dr Anita Dhasmana said the woman was examined by a panel of doctors.

Meanwhile, terming the whole episode a conspiracy against him, Chinmayanand on Wednesday expressed full faith in the SIT probe.

“I have full faith in the SIT team and everything will be clear once it is completed. This is a conspiracy against me,” Chinmayanand told PTI. The father of the woman had claimed that during the search at the hostel room of her daughter on Tuesday, some objectionable material was found, which was “planted” by vested interests before the room was sealed by the local police.

He said his daughter had only one key of the room and some things belonging to her were missing. Meanwhile, a video featuring a woman and an elderly has started doing rounds on social media. In the video, the woman is shown massaging an elderly. Another woman and some youths are shown talking about the “rangdari” (extortion) demand of Rs 5 crore.

Members of the SIT, accompanied by forensic experts, had on Tuesday inspected the hostel room of the complainant for nearly eight hours and collected evidence. The woman had told media persons on Monday that the Shahjahanpur police was reluctant to register a case of rape against the 72-year-old BJP leader.

The woman had appeared before the press, alleging that Chinmayanand had raped her, and also “physically exploited” her for a year. The woman had said she had all the proof and the hostel room where she stayed should be opened in front of the media.

“On Sunday, the SIT quizzed me for about 11 hours. I have told them about the rape. Even after telling them everything, they have not arrested Chinmayanand yet,” she had alleged.

She had said that when her father gave a complaint to police here about her physical exploitation, Shahjahanpur District Magistrate Indra Vikram Singh “issued threats”, asking her father to file “a missing complaint” instead.

The SIT, headed by Inspector General Naveen Arora, was set up by the Uttar Pradesh government on a Supreme Court directive.

It is looking into details of the probe conducted by the local police in the high-profile matter.

The apex court had said that an Allahabad High Court bench would monitor the probe.

The inspector general heading the SIT had said the probe report would be submitted to the Supreme Court in a sealed envelope.

The SIT was formed last Tuesday, a day after the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the case and directed the state government to investigate the charges levelled by the student.

The victim had gone missing on August 24, a day after she posted a video on social media, alleging that a “senior leader of the sant community” was harassing and threatening to kill her.

She was located in Dausa district of Rajasthan last Friday.

Her father had filed a complaint with police, accusing 72-year-old Chinmayanand of sexually harassing her, a charge refuted by the former Union minister’s lawyer who claimed it was a “conspiracy” to blackmail him.

Police had on August 27 booked Chinmayanand under Sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code based on the her father’s complaint.

(The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text, only the headline has been changed.)