Cops trying to weaken case, claims Shahajayhanpur woman

Hours after the arrest of BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand on Friday, the woman who has accused him of rape said the police are trying to weaken the case against him.

What I feared is happening, she told the media, referring to the charge under which the former Union minister has been arrested.

A press note has listed the charge against Chinmayanand as section 376C of the IPC, or sexual intercourse by a person in authority, instead of section 376, which is punishment for rape.

But Uttar Pradesh police chief O P Singh said Chinmayanand has been arrested in connection with a case of rape.

The woman praised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

"Yogiji is a good person, and all this was possible only due to him, she said, referring to the arrest. But I feel sad that the name of Swami Chinmayanand is linked with Yogi Adityanath.

Chinmayanand is a rapist, and his name should not be associated with Yogi Adityanath, she said.

I was raped and the day I appeared before the SIT, I said Swami Chinmayanand has raped me. Why has he not been booked under section 376 of the IPC, and only a formality was carried out, she said.

Justice is not being delivered to the girl who was raped, but Chinmayanand was taken to jail in a Mercedes," she alleged.

"Swami Chinmayanand enacted a drama of ill health so that he could put this point before the court, and get hospitalised," she said.

The woman said she is herself a law student and claimed she knew why Chinmayanand made an excuse of being ill.

She rejected any involvement in the alleged extortion attempt on Chinmayanand, for which three men have been arrested.

Referring to one of them, she said, "What planning he did, I don't know, and that is not my video. I have nothing to do with extortion," she said.

She said the video purportedly showing an extortion attempt is meant only to weaken her case.

The Supreme Court has taken cognisance of the entire matter and I am confident that I will get justice on September 23, which is the date of hearing in the Allahabad High Court."