india

Updated: Sep 10, 2019 01:47 IST

A law student from Uttar Pradesh alleged on Monday that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Chinmayanand raped her for over a year and that the state police are reluctant in opening a case under relevant sections against the politician despite her complaints.

The allegations come weeks after the Supreme Court stepped into the case and ordered a special probe as she went underground after suggesting Chinmayanand had sexually assaulted several women at a college in Shahjahanpur where he is the director. The woman was found by police in Rajasthan after being on the run for nearly a week fearing backlash over the accusations she made on Facebook on August 24.

“On Sunday, the SIT (special investigation team) 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 said while speaking to reporters in Shahjahanpur.

The woman said that she had been on the run fearing for her life and that the first time she approached Shahjahanpur police, the district magistrate compelled her family to withdraw the complaint after telling her father to “think about the consequences”.

The officer, Indra Vikram Singh, declined to comment on the accusation.

The allegation is the second time in less than two years that a BJP leader has been accused of rape – the other being Unnao MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was expelled from the party earlier in August after the woman he allegedly raped met with an accident that killed two of her relatives and left her and her lawyer in a critical condition.

The woman’s father was fatally assaulted by men connected to Sengar, and the case involved similar allegations against police failing to act against a powerful politician.

Chinamayanand has denied the allegations made by the law student and said that he was the target of an extortion attempt by the student. The woman said she had evidence of the rape. “I have all the proofs. The hostel where I lived has been sealed. It should be opened in front of the media,” she said, adding that she would give the proof, including video clips, at an appropriate time.