The Uttar Pradesh (UP) Police, on the 30th of August, found the girl who accused Swami Chinmayanand, a former Member of Parliament (MP) of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP,) of sexual assault and harassment.
According to sources, the Shahjahan Police, on the 29th of August, launched an investigation with the help of three police teams to locate the girl. The girl was found in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
The Supreme Court (SC) directed the UP Police to present the girl in front of the SC as soon as possible.
The SC took up the case after the lawyers and family members of the girl approached the Court for an urgent hearing. A bench of judges, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, was about to review the case, when the UP Police informed the Court about the girl.
The SC asked the UP Police, “Where is the girl? Can we meet her today? Reveal her exact location within 5 minutes.” The Court further demanded the girl be presented in the Court.
The Police said, “In the Shahjahanpur episode, the girl has been located by Shahjahanpur Police in Rajasthan along with her friend. Necessary legal action is being taken.”
O.P. Singh, the Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh, said, “She is hale and hearty. It seems she went out of her own will to various places.”
The girl, who was a law student at Swami Shukdevanand Post Graduate College, went missing on the 24th of August. Before the girl went missing, she recorded a video and accused Swami Chinmayanand of threatening her and her family and posted it on social media platforms. Although she did not name Swami Chinmayanand specifically, the girl’s father, on the 25th of August, filed a complaint against Swami for getting his daughter kidnapped.
On the 29th of August, Pravesh Singh, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Shahjahanpur and Avinash Chandra, the Additional Director General of Police of Bareilly, said the police traced the victim’s last location, which was a hotel in Dwarka, New Delhi. The girl was at the hotel on the 23rd of August, but by the time the UP police reached the location, she left the hotel. The news of her being at the hotel was confirmed with the help of the hotel’s CCTV footage. In the CCTV footage, the girl was accompanied by a young man.
The victim’s father said, “She called me up from an unknown number, probably of Delhi on August 24 and told me that she was fine and disconnected the phone.”
The UP Police will soon produce the girl and her friend in the SC. They are taking the girl to Shahjahanpur from the Fatehpur Sikri route, following which, she will be produced in the Court.
The SC hearing will resume the hearing after the girl reaches the Court.
Stay tuned for further updates.
