Rape case: Ex-BJP leader Chinmayanand scheduled to appear before MP-MLA court in Lucknow

Former Union Minister and BJP leader Chinmayanand who has been charged for rape of a law student is scheduled to appear in MP-MLA special court in Lucknow on Wednesday. Chinmayanand did not appear in the last hearing of the court. The case was transferred from Shahjahanpur court to Lucknow court, noting the woman's apprehension that the BJP leader could infringe with the law if the case is heard in his hometown Shahjahanpur.

READ | Law Student Who Accused Chinmayand Of Rape Released On Bail

The Allahabad High Court on February 3 had granted bail to Chinmayanand in the case of sexual exploitation. However, Justice Rahul Chaturvedi of Allahabad High Court had said that it was difficult to determine who exploited whom and opined that both of them used each other.

READ | Chinmayanand Vs Law Student: HC Says Not Sure Who Exploited Whom

Though Chinmayananda is an accused, he had also alleged that the woman (law student) and her friends had threatened to make some video clips public, in which he is seen massaging the student and has filed a complaint against the law student for which a parallel case of extortion is going on.

The law student was arrested on September 25, in connection with the extortion case that was filed after Chinmayanand's complaint alleging that she, along with three of her friends, demanded Rs 5 crore from him. Whereas, the law student who studied in Shahjahanpur Law College run by Chinmayand's trust had alleged that she was repeatedly raped and blackmailed by Chinmayanand for over a year. Earlier in December 2019, the 23-year-old law student was released from a district jail on bail in connection with an extortion case. 

READ | Chinmayanand Not Released From Jail As Bail Papers Yet To Reach Authorities

In November, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the sexual assault case against Chinmayanand had also recovered the law student's handbag and a few books which were found in drains near Chinmayanand's ashram. After a detailed interrogation of the law student's parents, the SIT had also been searching for the spy camera-fitted spectacles which the law student claimed she had used to record evidence of sexual exploitation.

READ | Chinmayanand Sexual Harassment Case: Allahabad HC Grants Bail To Former BJP Union Minister