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Shahjahanpur: She dreaded it when the clock would strike 2.30 pm. It was time for her to be escorted to the “private room” of former BJP MP and Union minister Chinmayanand by his armed security guards for a “session”.

Each time the Shahjahanpur law student would think of an excuse to escape — she would either say she was on her periods or was suffering from a UTI (urinary tract infection), but most times she could not.

Once in his room, Chinmayanand would allegedly force her to undress him and then have “aggressive sex”. If she resisted, he would allegedly thrash her.

“While 6 am was reserved for naked massages, 2:30 pm was the time when he would do this to me (have forced sex),” the 22-year-old law student, who has accused Chinmayanand of confining, threatening and raping her on several occasions, told ThePrint in an interview.

“I went mad. Each time he was in the ashram, my heart would sink. It became too much to take.”

“His gunmen would come to my hostel room to take me. They would then escort me and drop me there (to Chinmayanand’s room). And then the horror would begin,” she added.

Also read: What is sexual intercourse not amounting to rape that Chinmayanand is accused of

While Chinmayanand has been arrested, the special investigation team (SIT) of the Uttar Pradesh Police probing the case also has the woman on its radar as a ‘suspect’ in a case of extortion filed by the BJP leader’s lawyer.

Last week, three persons were arrested for allegedly sending text messages to Chinmayanand, demanding Rs 5 crore from him. SIT sources said the woman had been in regular touch with all three.

“Her involvement has come to light in the case of extortion but we are still trying to establish her role,” Naveen Arora, the Uttar Pradesh Police Inspector General (IG) who is leading the SIT, told ThePrint last week.

According to the complaint lodged by his lawyer Om Singh, Chinmayanand received a text message from an unknown number over messaging app WhatsApp on 22 August, which allegedly threatened that videos showing him naked and in obscene circumstances would be leaked online if he didn’t pay up Rs 5 crore.

“The text also said that if he tries to act smart, it will be him who will suffer in the end,” Singh told ThePrint, adding that he immediately reported the case to the police.

Denying the allegations, the student’s lawyer told ThePrint that the police is trying to shift attention from the main case against Chinmayanand of sexual assault.

‘He called me beti…never imagined he would do this to me’

It was sometime in October last year that the 22-year-old law student was first summoned by Chinmayanand to his private room for a “chat”.

Chinmayanand’s men allegedly escorted her to the room and left. The BJP leader then allegedly asked the girl to sit next to him and told her that he had to show her something important. When the woman saw his phone, she was terrified — it was her video of taking a bath.

“He referred to me as beti (daughter). Initially I never felt threatened by his presence. He would always be very nice to me and applaud me for my studies. I could have never imagined that he would do this to me,” she said.

“I was shocked to see myself naked on his phone. I looked at him and he was smiling. I started crying,” she said.

When the student asked what he wanted, Chinmayanand allegedly told her that she would now have to stay in the hostel and do whatever he would ask her, else he would make the video viral, and also threatened to kill her family.

The former minister allegedly told her that she would have to be in his ‘seva’ (service), give him oil massages the way he liked them and also “please him”.

“I was numb but I still refused. He then thrashed me, pushed me to the ground and slapped me. He told me that I would regret saying no. I had no choice,” she said.

For the first five years when she was studying in Chinmayanand’s institute to complete her graduation, the woman never met him personally. It was only after she wanted admission in LLM that her principal suggested that she should personally meet Chinmayanand and request for an admission.

“The principal told me that I should go see him, so I did. At that time, he greeted me very nicely and asked me to concentrate on my studies. He would guide me and tell me that he would give me a scholarship. He also told me that I was doing well, so he offered me a job,” she said.

“I never thought that this man who calls me his daughter will shoot a naked video of me and then blackmail me like this,” she added.

Also read: I am ashamed of what I have done: Chinmayanand tells SIT when confronted with massage clips

After Chinmayanand’s ‘aggressive sex’ first time, she had to see doctor

Whenever Chinmayanand would be in the ashram, the student said, her routine was fixed. “While 6 in the morning was the time he fixed for the massages, he would call me again at 2:30 pm for the ‘other’ session,” she alleged.

“I dreaded his visits,” she said. “I knew I cannot get away from those massage sessions, but I always thought of how to avoid the 2:30 pm session.”

“The first time he told me that I have to give him an oil massage, I was not shocked, but (when) he asked me to undress him, I panicked and cried,” she said.

According to the woman’s statement to her lawyer, the first time when Chinmayanand “forcefully” had sex with her, she had to visit a doctor as it was “so aggressive”.

Chinmayanand allegedly arranged for a private doctor who then treated her. He allegedly also told her to not visit any other doctor, as it could expose him.

The student said though she told all this to the police, they did not book him for rape.

“If this is not rape, what is?” she asked. “Is this any less of rape. He slapped me, threatened me. His gunmen escorted me to his room where he forced aggressive sex (on me). Is this not assault?” she asked.

The woman alleged that the SIT is trying to save him. “He always said that he was powerful and knew that he would get away. He was right. See how the police are protecting him. I have shared so many things, still they have not booked him for rape,” she added.

Also read: BJP’s Chinmayanand has been accused of serial rape again but Shahjahanpur isn’t surprised

‘His men stalked me, made sure I had no friends’

From the day the woman was asked to give those massages, Chinmayanand’s men allegedly kept a close watch on her, stalked her wherever she went and kept a track on who all she spoke to.

“I did not have much friends and how would I if I was being tracked all the time? I was told to not talk to anyone and just be in swami’s service,” she alleged. “He kept a watch on me through his men, even when he was not there and everyone else in the college also knew it. So, who will come and dare talk to me.”

When asked if there were other students whom he assaulted, she said, “No one is allowed to talk to each other here. I do not want to talk about any other girl. Even if there is, they should speak for themselves. I can only speak for myself,” she said.

‘I decided to have video proof’

Once during a massage session, Chinmayanand allegedly told her that she would now have to do this for “others” too. This is what scared her further and she thought of exposing him.

“I thought, if he can make a video of me, then why can’t I? Main kab tak sehti? (Until when could I have tolerated it),” she asked. “I knew that if I complain about him, no one would believe me and I would need a proof. I had understood his clout by then. So, I decided to have video proof of what he makes me do,” she said.

The student then started searching for a device on the internet and as she Googled “spy cameras”, it threw up several results.

“They had pens, bracelets, spectacles, pendents. I thought that (a pair of) spectacles would be the safest option and none of his gunman would oppose taking it inside,” she said.

The woman then ordered the same through an online shopping website and it was delivered on 23 March. She tested the device a few times and then wore those spectacles to Chinmayanand’s room when she was called the next time.

“I told Chinmayanand that he should not send his men to get me now as it embarrasses me. I told him that everyone gets to know where I am going and it gets awkward. I told him that because I wanted to start the recording right from my hostel room,” she said, adding, “I wanted to show in the recording the route I take, where I go, how he greets me and what all he asks me to do.”

Also read: Found by UP Police, woman who accused ex-BJP MP of sexual harassment is ‘scared for life’

The student has handed over these clips in 42 parts to the SIT. The clips show Chinmayanand purportedly asking the girl for sexual favours, having obscene chats with her and luring her to keep giving him massages on his private parts.

After going through the clips, the police sent them for a forensic examination and found them to be “genuine.”

When Chinmayanand was confronted with these clips, he admitted that he was guilty and accepted most of the allegations made by the student, the SIT had told ThePrint. But when Chinmayanand was questioned if he raped the student, he neither agreed nor disagreed.

‘Nothing to do with the extortion case’

When asked about the case of extortion in which she has been named as a “suspect”, the woman said it’s an attempt to dilute the case against Chinmayanand.

According to sources in the SIT, a complex web of phone calls and digital evidence, including a video and CCTV footage, links the student to the case.

Chinmayanand had allegedly received a text message from an unknown number over WhatsApp on 22 August. In the text, he was allegedly threatened that videos showing him naked and in obscene circumstances would be leaked online if he didn’t pay up Rs 5 crore.

“I have nothing to do with this case. They (police) are diverting attention from the main case by questioning my character, my credibility. I have given them so many evidences against him (Chinmayanand), still they are coming after me, instead of booking him for rape,” she said.

The police have also alleged that the student was seen in a video in which the three men, arrested for allegedly sending Chinmayanand the text messages, can be seen discussing the extortion attempt.

“I have repeatedly said that I am not the one in that video. It is not me. I am just being targeted because I spoke against the swami,” she said.

“Also, I did run away on 24 August, accusing swami of ruining lives of girls, but I did that because I was scared for my life. Swami’s men are everywhere. They keep a watch on everything. They would have killed me and nothing of this would have come out in the open,” she said.

(The report has been updated to correct a typographical error)

Also read: 4,300 calls, CCTV videos – How woman accusing Chinmayanand of rape is a ‘suspect’ herself

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