Shahjahanpur Law Student Rape Case: Explained Abhishek Tripathi LAW CRITIQUE Sat, Sep 21, 2019, at ,12:37 PM On August 23, a 23-year-old law student at Swami Shukdevanand Postgraduate College in Shahjahanpur, one of the colleges run by the Mumukshu Ashram, had posted a video on the social media, accusing Swami Chinamayanand, the director of her college, of sexually harassing her and threatening to kill her and her family as she had evidence that could land him in trouble. Just a day after she uploaded the video, the woman went missing on August 24 and was tracked down six days later and found in Rajasthan on August 30. Police officials stated that she and her family were given protection in view of the events. The student also alleged that she was raped and exploited for over a year by the BJP leader. She also alleged that the Shahjahanpur Police in Uttar Pradesh had refused to file her FIR and hence, she decided to file a complaint in Delhi. The woman also accused the local District Magistrate of trying to threaten her parents for complaining against Chinmayanand. On 29th August the Supreme Court took suo moto cognizance of the case after a group of female lawyers requested the court to initiate proceedings over the matter of missing law student. On September 2, the Supreme Court ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the case. On September 10, the man who claimed to be the brother of the victim handed over a pen drive to the SIT. The victim and her brother have claimed that if the SIT does a fair probe, this pen drive has some vital evidence against Chinmayanand. Victim’s brother claimed that the pen drive contains a video that is enough to expose the "real face" of the BJP leader. Responding to the allegations, Chinmayanand stated that he was “being framed.” "I do not want to influence the SIT probe into the matter but I am confident that the inquiry will reveal the truth," Chinmayanand said at a press conference. Recently, the law student she circulated a video message threatening to commit self-immolation if the police did not file rape charges against Chinmayanand. Besides this, there are also allegations that the woman's three friends tried to extort Rs 5 crore from Chinmayanand. Speaking to the media, Arora, who heads the SIT, said, "Swami Chinmayanand has admitted to almost every allegation leveled against him, including sexual conversations and a body massage. Chinmayanan has been booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for trying to seduce a woman for sexual intercourse not amounting to rape, stalking, wrongful confinement and criminal intimidation. According to the SIT, the woman also contacted one of the three people arrested for extortion 4,200 times last year. Police said her involvement in the case is being investigated. Swami Chinmayanand was on 20 September arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Investigation Team (SIT) that is probing the case. An official said that he was taken for medical examination to Shahjahanpur district hospital. Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe this case has arrested three friends of the woman on charges of trying to extort Rs 5 crore from Chinmayanand. They have also been charged with criminal intimidation, causing the disappearance of evidence and sending offensive messages to Chinmayanand. Who is Swami Chinmayanand? Swami Chinmayanand was born as Krishna Pal Singh and hails from Gonda. He is post-graduate from Lucknow University. At the age of 24, he joined Mumukshu Ashram and became a disciple of Swami Dharmanand. He also had roles in Ram Mandir Andolan and Demolition of Babri Masjid. He is a three-time Member of Parliament on Bhartiya Janta Party ticket. He was also a Union Minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee Govt.