The 23-year-old law student who has accused the BJP Union minister Chinmayanand of rape and blackmail was brought to a UP court under heavy security on Monday for her statement.
She was escorted by several police women as she arrived in the court with her face covered by a black dupatta.
The student has accused the former Union Minister of sexually assaulting her for a year. She is a second-year student of a law college in Shahjahanpur that is run by Chinmayanand.
The allegations surfaced when the woman went missing on August 24 after putting up a Facebook post, without naming Chinmayanand while her family accused the senior BJP leader of kidnapping her.
Six days later, the young woman was tracked down by the UP police. She reportedly shared her account of the alleged crime in a closed hearing at the Supreme Court, which ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the UP police to inquire into her charges.
The woman claims she went into hiding after gathering video proof to substantiate her allegations against Chinmayanand, a powerful politician who was Minister of State for Home in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led BJP government.
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Chinmayanand, who runs several ashrams and institutions, allegedly helped her with her admission into the law college and urged her to move into the hostel. He is accused of calling her to his room, blackmailing her with a clip of her taking a bath and repeatedly raping her on many occasions. The woman also alleged that she was taken to his room on gunpoint by his trusted aides.
Last week, Chinmayanand was questioned for seven hours by the SIT. He has denied the allegation.
The woman, speaking to the media last week, claimed evidence was removed from the bedroom of Chinmayanand’s ashram where the alleged sexual assault took place. She further added that she has handed a second pen drive, which reportedly contains more video evidence in support of her allegations, to the officers of the SIT.