SWAMI CHINMAYANAND ACQUITTED IN A RAPE CASE

26th March 2021

A Special Court for lawmakers acquitted former Union Minister and BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand. Chinmayanand was accused of keeping a student captive allegedly rape her.

This case was registered by the father of the victim at Kotwali police station in Shahjahanpur, the father said that her daughter was living in a hostel and pursuing LLM from a college run by Chinmayanand's Ashram. He further said, that her phone was switched off on 23rd August, while going through her Facebook account he found that she has been threatened by Chinamayanand and his accomplices for physical harassment and rape. Chinmayanand was arrested on 20th September 2019 and charged under section 376 (a) of the IPC. Later, Adv Om lodged a complaint against the girl and her friends, for allegedly demanding Rs 5 cr as extortion from Chinmayanand.

Judge PK Rai acquitted Chinmayanand and his accomplice on the ground that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. The victim also turned hostile during the trial, the Court also acquitted the law student and her friends of the charges of extortion of money for lack of evidence.

Author: Papiha Ghoshal