SIT arrests Law Student who accused Swami Chinmayanand of Rape

The 23-year old LL.M. student who had alleged that former BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand had repeatedly raped her, was arrested by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Wednesday on charges of extortion, reports TOI..Following her arrest this morning, she was reportedly sent to 14-days judicial custody by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vineet Kumar..The LL.M. student from the Swami Shukdevanand Law College (SS Law College) in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh had posted videos online levelling allegations of sexual harassment against Swami Chinmayanand. The student went missing three days after the allegations were made..The Supreme Court had earlier taken suo motu cognizance of the incident after a group of lawyers had written a letter to the Court urging the same. Thereafter, the Court was informed that the student was found by the Rajasthan Police. After her production before the Court, and following a personal interaction with her, a Bench headed by Justice R Banumathi eventually allowed the student to apply for admission in another University in order to complete her LL.M. course..Further the Court had also directed the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh to constitute an SIT to look into certain apprehensions raised by the student and her family. The Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court was requested to constitute a Bench to monitor this probe..Last week, Chinmayanand was also arrested by the SIT probing the charges of rape and sexual harassment levelled against him. On Friday, he was also sent to 14 days of judicial custody..The LL.M. student had reportedly submitted 43 videos to the investigating agencies to support her claims of having been blackmailed and raped by Chinmayanand. It was also reported last week that Chinmayanand had apologised for his behaviour, although it is unclear in what context he may have said the same..In the meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today issued a clarification that Swami Chinmayanand is no longer a member of the party..Image taken from here.