Chinmayanand Case: Why Is Rape Survivor in Jail, Asks Brinda Karat

“I will call her a rape survivor... In this case, power is being misused to protect the accused,” said Karat.

Brinda Karat.

(Photo: PTI) 

Politician Brinda Karat went to Shahjahanpur on Thursday, 26 September, to meet with the 23-year-old law student who has accused Swami Chinmayanand of rape. The law student is currently in jail on charges of extortion. Swami Chinmayanad, on the other hand, who has been booked under Section 376 C of the IPC – sexual intercourse by a person in authority, not amounting to rape – is in hospital.

“I will call her a rape survivor. We met the rape survivor in jail, we also met with the SIT team. In this case, power is being misused to protect the accused. We have gone into the depths of the case and it is a shame that the UP government, its police and administrative bodies are working to protect the accused. There is no law of the land here, law is being butchered. It can never happen that an FIR is not filed on a girl’s complaint. 

Brinda Karat

Chinmayanand’s lawyers had filed a case of extortion against unidentified persons. They had alleged that a WhatsApp message demanding Rs 5 crore was received on the mobile phone of the BJP leader. The message, they alleged, threatened to make some video clips viral if the amount was not paid. The cops arrested three youth and the survivor.

“Don’t equate the crime. The punishment has to fit the crime. How can you put the extortion and rape on the same page? The punishment is also not the same. It is a bailable charge (extortion) and yet, you sent the girl to jail. Why is a rape survivor in jail? You’re not arresting the main accused.” 

Brinda Karat

While the survivor is in jail on charges of extortion, the main accused, Swami Chinamayanad is under “observation” in the Cardiology Ward of SGPGI, Lucknow. He had complained of ‘ill-health’.