Swami Chinmayanand, accused by a 23-year-old law student from Shahjahanpur of raping her, was arrested on Friday morning by the special investigation team formed to probe the charges.
The seer-politician was arrested from his residence on the premises of the Mumukshu Ashram in Shahjahanpur on Friday morning.
Chinmayanand’s lawyer, Om Singh, said he received a call at 9am about the arrest. Chinmayanand was arrested from his ashram, from where he had been taken to the district hospital for a medical investigation. Chinmayanand has been remanded to 14 days in judicial custody under Sections 376C, 354 D, 342 and 506 of the IPC. However, the charge of rape has not been added yet against Chinmayanand.
On Thursday, the young woman who had accused Chinmayanand of rape had threatened to immolate herself if the BJP leader was not arrested. The same evening, the SIT had in a press conference said that it would submit its report to the High Court on September 23 and charges would be filed based on it.
Singh told THE WEEK that his client had been arrested in a totally “illegal and arbitrary manner”, without any reasons being assigned for the arrest.
Sources within the BJP told THE WEEK that the mounting criticism over the party's perceived silence on the case had made the party distance itself from it. "The protection is over", one BJP leader said, alluding to speculation that the seer had been shielded from arrest owing to his proximity to Chief Minister Yogi Adityananth.
There has also been speculation that at least two powerful BJP leaders—one a minister and another a top organisational functionary—had been instrumental in bolstering the case against Chinmayanand.
“On the directive of the Supreme Court, the SIT was to investigate the two FIRs filed by the girl’s father and by my client. Yet, the SIT seems to have believed only the fabricated charges that the girl has levelled against Swamiji. No reasons have been given for the arrest till now. However, when my client is produced before the sessions court today, the reason will have to be stated in writing,” Singh told THE WEEK.
The two FIRs Singh refers to are those of kidnapping and criminal intimidation filed by the father of Miss A (the name given to the rape survivor by the Supreme Court) and of extortion filed on behalf of Chinmayanand.
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The student, who had gone missing on August 24 after posting a video on her social media page alleging that a ‘big swami’ had destroyed her life and that of many other girls. She had appealed to “Modiji and Yogiji” to help her. On August 30, Miss A was recovered from Rajasthan. She had subsequently given a pen drive with 43 videos as evidence to the SIT.
On September 16, Miss A had recorded her statement in front of a magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC.
Miss A's family is presently in Allahabad, where they shall remain till September 23 when the SIT shall file a status report before the High Court. He brother told THE WEEK, "This (the arrest) is a positive step. We are now hopeful that the investigation is proceeding in the right direction. We will get justice."