The Supreme Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe allegations levelled by the law student who had gone missing after accusing former Union Minister and BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand of sexual harassment, news agency ANI reported on Monday, 2 September.
The woman was produced on Friday before the apex court which had ordered that she should stay in the national capital under police security and had posted the matter for hearing on Monday.
The court said the SIT, which will be headed by an IG-rank officer, will also have an SP-rank officer, to look into the grievances raised by the woman.
After hearing the matter, the SC bench also requested the Allahabad HC Chief Justice to constitute a bench for monitoring the probe in the two cross FIRs lodged in the matter.
Clarifying that it's not expressing any opinion on correctness of grievance and apprehensions, the top court also directed the UP government to transfer the girl to a different college so that she can pursue her course without fear.
On 27 August , the Shahjahanpur police had lodged an FIR against Chinmayanand after the student went missing following her allegation in a video clip that he had been harassing her. She also spoke about threat to her and her family's life in the video clip.
Her father had filed a complaint with police accusing Chinmayanand of sexually harassing her, a charge refuted by the BJP leader’s lawyer who claimed it was a “conspiracy” to blackmail him.
The woman's father had alleged that she went missing at the behest of the 72-year-old BJP leader, who heads Mumukshu ashram. She is a post-graduate student in one of the colleges run by the ashram.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
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