New Delhi: The law student who has accused Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union minister Chinmayanand of rape was detained for questioning by the Uttar Pradesh police in a case of extortion that has been filed against her.
According to NDTV, the woman was on her to a local court in Shahjahanpur for “protection from arrest” on Tuesday, but the police stopped her on the way and made her sit inside a police vehicle. Chinmayanand’s lawyer has accused the woman and her father of trying to extort money from the leader.
The BJP leader has not been charged with rape, even though that is what the woman has alleged. Instead, he is facing charges of “misusing authority for sexual intercourse” or “sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape”, criminal intimidation, stalking and wrongful confinement. Chinmayanand was arrested on Friday, nearly a month after the woman has released a public video saying that she was being intimidated and feared for her life because of what had happened.
As The Wire has reported before, the way this case is progressing suggests that as is often the case then the accused is powerful, the wheels of justice are moving remarkably slowly in this case.
The student had earlier claimed the police are trying to weaken the case against the ruling party politician. News18 reported she was unhappy that, inscrutably, no rape charge was slapped on Chinmayanand.
On Monday, a Shahjahanpur court rejected a bail plea filed by Chinmayanand. The court said that the plea should have been filed in the sessions court.
The former minister has reportedly told the police that he is “sorry” for his actions. It is also not entirely clear if Chinmayanand had apologised for the alleged rape, or for getting the woman to massage him, which was recorded on video, and shown to him during the investigation.