Chinmayanand Case: Law Student Says Levelled Charges "Under Pressure" From Anti-Social Elements

The law student who levelled rape allegations against former Union Minister Swami Chinmayanand in 2019  told a court that she had done so under pressure from "enemies" of Chinmayanand. The student had withdrawn her allegations a year after raising them.

According to Hindustan Times, the woman appeared before the special court (Member of Parliament/Member of the Legislative Assembly court) judge Pawan Kumar Rai. According to the prosecution lawyer Abhay Tripathi, the woman said, “Under the pressure of anti-social elements, I had levelled allegations of sexual harassment (on former Union minister). These statements are not true.”

Also Read: Chinmayanand Case: Special Court Summons Law Student On November 27

As per the report, the woman also informed the court that she had recorded her statements before the judicial magistrate, Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh under the pressure of Special Investigation Team (SIT). The statements were recorded under Sections 161 (examination of a witness) and 164  (recording of statements and confessions) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

According to the prosecution lawyer, she further informed the court that her statement was not read out to her and her signatures were also not taken on all pages. The law student also alleged that no video recording was done when she was giving the statement before the judicial magistrate.

The court has fixed 11 January as the date for next hearing in the case.

Also Read: Law Student Who Accused Chinmayanand Of Rape Disowns Statement In Court: Report

About the case

In 2019, the female law student from Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, accused former Union Minister Chinmayanand of raping and physically exploiting her. However, the Union Minister filed a case of extortion against her and three of her male friends – Sanjay Singh, Sachin Sengar, and Vikram alias Durges for allegedly demanding rupees five crores from him.  A month later in September, both Chinmayanand and the female law student were arrested. In February this year, the Allahabad High Court granted bail to Chinmayanand. The law student also secured bail and is currently out of jail.

The UP government had constituted an SIT to probe the law student’s allegations against Chinmayanand. The SIT had filed a charge sheet for both rape and extortion case.

Also Read: Chinmayanand Case: New Evidence Found On Laptop and Pendrive

The female law student recorded her statements before the judicial magistrate of Shahjahanpur, on September 16, 2019. However, she withdrew the allegations of sexual harassment against Swami Chinmayanand on October 13 this year.

Sagrika Giri is an intern with SheThePeople.TV.