SP leaders protest after being denied permission to meet jailed Shahjahanpur student

The SP leaders staged a protest outside Shahjahanpur jail in UP after they were denied permission to meet the jailed law student, who levelled rape allegations against former Union Minister Swami Chinmayanand.

Shahjahanpur (UP):A delegation of Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders hit out at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh after they were denied permission to meet the jailed law student, who levelled rape allegations against former Union Minister Chinmayanand.

The SP leaders staged a protest outside Shahjahanpur jail here.

SP leader Richa Singh said, "We are on a peaceful protest to let five women meet the victim. The district administration and jail administrations have refused to let us meet her."

"What does the administration have to fear from us that they are not letting us meet the victim. Did the administration get orders from above?" the SP leader asked.

On extortion charges faced by the victim, the SP leader said, "Why did he (Chinmayanand) not complain of extortion before he was accused of rape by the woman?"

"Is there any bigger crime than rape? It is a joke by the BJP on Indian culture that they remain silent on an incident in which a man has done such shameful things to a girl," she added.

On Wednesday, Naveen Arora, who is heading the SIT, said that during the interrogation, the student had accepted that she instigated one of her friends to send the messages to Chinmayanand demanding money.

After her confession, she was arrested and produced before the court, which sent her to 14-day judicial custody.

The law student went missing on August 24 after a video of her alleging that a person from 'Sant Samaj' had threatened to kill her and her parents went viral on the social media.

The girl, who studied in the college run by Chinmayanand had later testified before a local court that she was repeatedly raped by him for over a year. She said that the accused recorded the incidents on camera and used it to blackmail her.

Chinmayanand, who was Minister of State for Home in the Vajpayee government, is also in judicial custody in connection with the case.