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Uttar Pradesh law student, who accused Chinmayanand of rape, arrested in extortion case

On September 24, a court in Uttar Pradesh had agreed to hear her request for protection from arrest. The plea is expected to be heard on September 26

September 25, 2019 / 06:13 PM IST
File image: Chinmayanand

File image: Chinmayanand

The 23-year-old student, who accused former union minister Chinmayanand of rape, was arrested on September 25 on charges of extortion, police sources said.

Media reports have suggested that she has been sent to judicial custody for 14 days.

The law student was arrested from her house by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Uttar Pradesh Police at around 9.15 am, according to news agency PTI. She was then taken for medical examination.

She is expected to be produced before a court later in the day.

A local court in Uttar Pradesh had on September 24 accepted to hear an interim bail plea filed by the student.

The court has fixed September 26 for her plea hearing. Her petition seeks protection from arrest for allegedly trying to extort money from Chinmayanand.

"It is a big relief for us as our plea has been admitted," her counsel Anoop Trivedi had told reporters after the plea was accepted for hearing.

She was also questioned on September 24 by the SIT. The SIT was set up under the directions of the Supreme Court of India (SC).

The woman, a student of a college run by Chinmayanand's ashram, has alleged she was raped and physically exploited by the former union minister for over a year. She first mentioned about harassment by him in a video clip uploaded on social media in August.

Chinmayanand, who had been arrested on September 20, was shifted from a Shahjahanpur jail on September 23 to a Lucknow hospital, where he was tested for cardiac problems.

His own bail application was rejected by Shahjahanpur chief judicial magistrate on September 23, who said it should be moved in the Sessions court, according to his counsel Om Singh.

The CJM's court had also rejected the bail application of three men who were arrested on extortion charges filed by the BJP leader. The law student was also booked under the same charge.

On September 23, the Allahabad High Court had refused to grant interim bail to the student and directed her to file a fresh petition before an appropriate bench.

"This bench was nominated to the case only for monitoring the investigation in this matter and has no jurisdiction to pass order on stay of arrest," it said.

The SIT has obtained the remand of Sachin Sengar and Vikram -- two of three men arrested in the extortion case -- for 95 hours, to help trace the mobile phone used in the alleged extortion bid.

The police have also sent the mobile phone of Chinmayanand's counsel Om Singh, on which the message demanding money was allegedly received, for forensic examination, sources have said.

Chinmayanand, sent to judicial custody after his arrest, was booked under section 376C of the IPC, which is usually applied in cases where a person abuses his position to "induce or seduce" a woman under his charge to have "sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape".

This is a lesser charge than section 376, under which a rape convict faces a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. The punishment under section 376C is between five and 10 years in jail.

He was also booked under sections 354 D (stalking), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

The woman had claimed that the police were trying to weaken the case against the ruling party politician.

The High Court on September 23 expressed satisfaction with the progress report submitted by the special investigation team probing the case.

(With inputs from PTI)

Moneycontrol News
first published: Sep 25, 2019 10:45 am

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