MY KOLKATA EDUGRAPH
ADVERTISEMENT
Regular-article-logo Friday, 26 April 2024

Chinmayanand sexual assault case: UP police release name and photo of woman against the law

Police say this is routine for searches of missing persons, although the girl's father had complained about sexual harassment

The Telegraph Published 30.08.19, 04:14 AM
Apart from the woman's name, the poster carried her photograph, address and the name and phone number of her father. It also carries the mobile numbers of the inspector and the circle officer.

Apart from the woman's name, the poster carried her photograph, address and the name and phone number of her father. It also carries the mobile numbers of the inspector and the circle officer. Thinkstock

Shahjahanpur: Uttar Pradesh police on Wednesday in a breach of law released posters naming the missing student whose father has alleged she was sexually harassed by BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand.

The posters identify the woman which is disallowed as the woman had alleged sexual assault.

ADVERTISEMENT

The FIR registered by the police does not mention any sexual assault and the case is filed under IPC sections related to abduction with the purpose of murder and criminal intimidation.

In his first complaint to the police, however, the woman's father had alleged she and some other girls was sexually harassed by Chinmayanand.

Apart from the woman's name, the poster carried her photograph, address and the name and phone number of her father. It also carries the mobile numbers of the inspector and the circle officer.

City superintendent of police Dinesh Tripathi said: 'A number of teams of the district police have been formed to find the girl, but she is untraceable.'

He said this was the normal process followed in such cases because posters are issued to trace 'kidnapped persons'. They come from the state capital and are sent to all police stations, the officer said.

The mystery surrounding the disappearance of a post-graduate student, who levelled harassment charges against Chinmayanand, continued on the sixth day as her family awaited concrete information about her.

The woman, a student at a college run by Chinmayanand's trust, has been missing since August 24, a day after she posted a video on social media alleging that the former Union minister was harassing and threatening to kill her.

She did not name Chinmayanand in the video but said 'a senior leader of the sant community'. The politician, who faced similar accusations in 2011 and was booked for raping a woman who stayed at his ashram, has denied the charge.

The Supreme Court on Thursday took cognisance on its own of reports of the woman.

The issue, mentioned before the apex court on Wednesday by a group of lawyers urging it to take cognisance in the matter, would come up for hearing on Friday before a bench of Justices R. Banumathi and A.S. Bopanna.

UP police claimed the student was spotted in a Delhi hotel on Wednesday but left the place before officials reached there. A search is under way to trace her.

On Thursday, Kotwali police station in-charge Pravesh Singh said the woman's hostel room in Shahjahanpur was sealed last evening to avoid trespassing and evidence tampering. Her mother had visited the hostel on August 24 after the news the student had been missing spread but she found her room locked.

Written with PTI inputs

Follow us on:
ADVERTISEMENT