Chinmayanand case: Student’s family claims evidences missing, Chinmayanand evades interrogation

The Chinmayanand case has taken yet another turn with the law students father now claiming that evidence has gone missing from the girls hostel room. "My daughter had safely kept the evidence against the accused in her hostel room which was later sealed on court orders. When the Special Investigation Team (SIT) opened the seal on Sept 9, some of the evidences were missing from the room," he claimed on Thursday. The seal of the room was broken in the presence of the girl and her father.

The girl had earlier claimed that she had kept evidences of the case in ‘safe places'. "My daughter had recorded evidence against the accused in hidden cameras fitted in two spectacles. Both are missing. The room was sealed two days after we made a request in this regard. My daughter's friend has also given evidences in a pen drive to the investigating officers," he said.

Former Union Minister Chinmayanand, accused of sexual misconduct by a law student, has already been summoned for interrogation but has evaded questioning on health grounds so far. A Special Investigation Team official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the BJP leader was sent summons three days ago. "Chinmayanand has communicated to us that he is unwell but we will interrogate him soon. There is no question of not interrogating him," the official said.

The officers in the SIT, meanwhile, refused to comment on the progress in the case or the allegations of the girl's father's. The Shahjahanpur police officials also refused to speak on the matter. Sources close to the girl have claimed that the video that is now viral on the social media, showing Chinmayanand, 73, in a state of undress and being massaged by a girl, was shot by the victim through the hidden camera fitted in her spectacles.

"There are 12 such videos that will confirm the murky side of the saint-turned-politician. The police are apparently working overtime to save Chinmayanand who is a friend of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Yogi Adityanath had visited Mumukshu Ashram, run by Chinmayanand, in February last year. The police have visited the ashram and but has not even questioned the accused till now," said a source who did not wish to be identified.

The 23-year-old law student, who studied in the Swami Shukdevanand Post Graduate College that is run by Chinmayanand in Shahjahanpur, has alleged that she was filmed, blackmailed and raped repeatedly by the accused BJP leader and former union minister. In her 12-page complaint, according to sources, the woman has said she first met Chinmayanand in June last year for admission in a law course in his college in Shahjahanpur.

She had alleged that he took her phone number and arranged her admission. He allegedly called her and also offered her a job at the college library for a salary of Rs 5,000. She says she worked alongside her classes since her family was poor.

Chinmayanand allegedly asked the woman to move into the hostel in October last year and later invited her to his ashram. The woman claims he showed her a video of her bathing in the hostel, threatened to make it viral and then raped her. The politician allegedly also filmed the rape and used it for blackmail.

The woman alleges she was forced to give him massages and often, brought to him by his aides at gunpoint. The alleged assaults continued until in July this year when the victim decided to make videos as proof against Chinmayanand.

In August, she posted a video on Facebook and ran away from the college. It was when she was missing that her father, citing her Facebook post, accused Chinmayanand of exploiting her and ‘many other girls'.

The Uttar Pradesh Police, who had not filed his missing report, recorded the family's complaint three days after the woman went missing, listing charges like kidnapping and intimidation against Chinmayanand. But no First Information Report (FIR), which is the first step for a police investigation, had been filed. The woman was tracked down a week later in Rajasthan.

The Supreme Court, which had stepped in after lawyers flagged the case, asked the police to produce her and spoke to her in a closed hearing on September 30. Last week, the woman filed a rape complaint in Delhi because she stated that she did not have faith in the UP Police. On the orders of the Supreme Court, the Uttar Pradesh government set up a SIT to investigate the case on September 3.

Meanwhile, Chinmayanand has rejected the allegations and has alleged a political conspiracy to bring him down. His lawyer has claimed that the woman and her friends are out to discredit the politician and want to extort money from him. Another video showing four boys and the alleged victim discussing extortion has also gone viral on the social media. "The girl is creating new drama every day after her initial attempts failed. Her family claimed she had been kidnapped but she was found with a male friend in Rajasthan," said Om Singh, Chinmayanand's lawyer.