Rape Charge Filed Against Chinmayanand, SIT Begins Questioning

Delhi Police has forwarded the rape complaint to the Special Investigation Team.

A rape charge has reportedly been filed against Chinmayanand.

(Photo: The Quint) 

The Uttar Pradesh law student, who had earlier accused former minister and BJP leader Chinmayanand of sexual harassment, has now reportedly filed a rape complaint against him, with the Delhi Police.

The Delhi Police has however, forwarded the complaint to the Special Investigation Team (SIT), according to a Times of India report.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, 8 September, the SIT began its probe into the case by recording statements of the family members of the student.

WHAT IS THE SIT INVESTIGATION ABOUT?

The SIT, probing allegations of harassment, had called the family members of the survivor at the district Police Lines on Sunday afternoon for recording of their statement, reported news agency PTI.

When contacted, the woman's father said on phone that investigation is going on. "Investigation is going on. I could speak to you as I had come outside," he told PTI.

The SIT on Saturday also visited Chinmayanand's residence, ashram and the college run by him where she studied, according to the college principal.

The SIT, headed by Inspector General of Police Naveen Arora, has been set up by the UP government on the Supreme Court’s order.

While police remain tightlipped on the probe, the principal of Swami Shukdevanand Post Graduate College, where the woman studied, said the SIT which arrived here Thursday night also visited Divya Dham, the residence of Swami Chinmayanand but could not meet him as he was out of town.

The team also visited the Mukukshu Ashram of the BJP leader and toured the five colleges run by the ashram, Principal Avnish Misra had told PTI yesterday.

The team visited the college hostel where the room of the law student has already been sealed, he said.

WHAT ABOUT THE RAPE CHARGE?

According to the Times of India report, the law student had lodged the rape complaint with the Delhi Police but no FIR has been registered based on it.

“My daughter has registered her complaint with Delhi Police and it was formally forwarded to the special investigation team (SIT) in Shahjahanpur. In her complaint, she has levelled charges of sexual assault against Chinmayanand. We could have registered this complaint to SIT directly, but on the advice of our counsel, we wanted to ensure that a record of this complaint is maintained in Delhi as well. Now, we will go and meet the SIT in Shahjahanpur," the student's father was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

The report further said that a senior official of Delhi Police confirmed that a general diary entry was made at a police station in south Delhi, “details of which cannot be shared.”