A 23-year-old law student, who had accused former BJP MP Chinmayanand of rape in 2019, turned hostile at a hearing in a special court in Lucknow on October13. Chinmayanand, 72, was arrested last year in the rape case and was granted bail in February this year.
The student did not accept any of the allegations that she had made in the past, as she appeared before the special court.
After she turned hostile, the prosecution made an appeal to file a case under Section 340 of CrPc (false claim and false prosecution in a case) against the student. The complainant has now been ordered to reply to the prosecution’s appeal.
The law student had filed an FIR against Chinmayanand last year on September 5. Nearly a week after her father had alleged that she had gone missing, the girl’s family had accused the ex-union minister of harassment. He was arrested on September 20, 2019.
Chinmayanand also faced charges under Sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 354-D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.
Soon after his arrest, the 23-year-old woman was also taken into custody on charges of trying to extort ₹5 crores from the ex-BJP leader.
A special investigation team was set up by the state government to probe the case. On November 6, the team had filed a charge sheet in the rape case and also the extortion case against the law student and three others.
In December, the Allahabad High Court had granted bail to the law student in the extortion case.
In February this year, Chinmayanand was granted bail by the high court that stated a ‘quid pro quo’ between the accused and the young woman.
In the order, Justice Rahul Chaturvedi of the high court expressed shock that a ‘girl whose virginity is at stake’ did not inform her parents or any judicial body about the sexual exploitation she was subjected to.
Two days later, the ex-BJP leader walked out of the Shahjahanpur district jail to a grand welcome by his supporters.
In March, the Supreme Court refused to cancel the bail granted to Chinmayanand, stressing that there is ‘no need to interfere’ with the Allahabad High Court order.
