UP girl who alleged harassment by BJP leader Chinmayanand still missing

Shahjahanpur: The law student from UP’s Shahjahanpur, who went missing three days ago following her sexual harassment allegations against BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand, is still untraceable.

Police have said the missing girl has not been using her mobile phone which has made it difficult for them to trace the law student, according to India Today.

In response to the incident, a group of Supreme Court lawyers have filed a petition to the Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, to take suo moto cognizance of media reports on the case.

Voicing their fears, these lawyers said they did not want a repeat of the Unnao rape case.

The police on Tuesday lodged an FIR against BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand after a student went missing following her allegation in a video clip that he had been harassing her.

The law student’s father had also filed a complaint with the police accusing Chinmayanand of sexually harassing her. This charge has been vehemently refuted by Chinmayanand’s lawyer who claimed it was a "conspiracy" to blackmail him.

Shahjahanpur Superintendent of Police S Chanappa said the BJP leader was booked under Sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC based on the father's complaint, according to India Today.

In a video clip posted by the woman online, she said she was under threat from a leader of the ‘sant’ community, without naming Chinmayanand or specifying the kind of harassment she allegedly faced.

But the woman's father on Tuesday alleged that she has gone missing at the behest of the 72-year-old BJP leader, who heads Mumukshu ashram. She is a post-graduate student in one of the colleges run by the ashram. Her father alleged that Chinmayanand and "some others" sexually abused her and other girls.