BJP's Chinmayanand accused of rape by UP student, Delhi police registers complaint

Lucknow: BJP leader and former Union Minister Chinmayanand has been accused of rape by a young woman who went missing for a week from her home in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh and was found in Rajasthan, NDTV reported.

In her complaint to the police, the law student has claimed that she was raped and exploited by Chinmayanand for a year.

The woman, 23, is a student at a law college that is managed by a board headed by Chinmayanand, a three-time Member of Parliament.

She had filed her complaint in Delhi because the Uttar Pradesh police had refused to do so.

"Swami Chinmayanand raped me and even exploited me physically for one year," she alleged before the media, her face covered with a black scarf.

"The Delhi Police has registered this complaint with Lodhi Road police station and has forwarded it to Shahjahanpur police, which is not registering the rape case," she said.

The Supreme Court had ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to inquire into her allegations after hearing the woman in a closed court.

"On Sunday, the SIT quizzed me for about 11 hours. I have told them about the rape. Even after I told them everything, they haven't arrested Chinmayanand yet," she said.

The woman was tracked down in Rajasthan on August 30, a week after she went missing following her Facebook post alleging that a "big leader of the Sant Samaj" had "destroyed the lives of many other girls and also has threatened to kill me".

In the post, she had requested Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help her.

Though she didn't name Chinmayanand at the time, her father named him in his complaint to the police.

As the case became public and made waves on social media, the former BJP MP was charged with kidnapping and intimidation by the UP police.