The law student who accused BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand of rape has been arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for extortion. The arrest comes days after Chinmayanand was sent to 14-day judicial custody. The BJP leader was arrested after the law student threatened self-immolation if any action was not taken.
He was charged with "misusing authority for sexual intercourse" or "sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape", according to his lawyer.
In an earlier video posted on August 24, the woman had claimed that an unnamed top leader was threatening to kill her and her family. She had sought PM Modi and Home Minister Shah's help.
"Only I know what I have been going through. Modi ji please help me, he is a sanyasi and is threatening that the police, district magistrate and everyone else is on his side and no one can harm him. I request you all for justice," she had said.
The woman had alleged that she was raped by Chinmayanand for a year. She is a post-graduate student at SS Law College in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur district, where the BJP leader serves as the director.
The SIT had said on Sunday that the victim was involved in the extortion call made to Chinmayanand by her male companion Sanjay Singh, and two cousins, Sachin Sengar and Vikram.
The matter of the law student's anticipatory bail hearing being heard by the Allahabad High Court was to come up for hearing on Thursday, but the SIT did not wait for the court's ruling, as certain phone calls traced revealed that the victim was planning to escape.
The woman was arrested from her home and taken to the Kotwali police station. She was then taken for medical examination and would later be produced in court.
Allegedly made extortion calls
She was taken into custody on Tuesday but later released by the SIT after the court of Additional District Judge (ADJ) first, granted a stay on her arrest.
The woman and three other boys, who were arrested earlier, had allegedly made extortion calls to Chinmayanand asking him to pay Rs 5 crore or else they would make public his intimate videos.
A video showing the boys and the alleged victim talking about demanding money from the accused had gone viral on social media. Chinmayanand had earlier lodged a complaint in this regard.
(With agency inputs)
