Parents of law student who accused Chinmayanand brought to Delhi

Shahjahanpur (UP), Aug 31: Following Supreme Court directions, a Delhi Police team arrived here on Saturday to take the parents of a law student who was allegedly sexually harassed by a BJP leader to meet her in the national capital.

The woman, a student of a college here run by BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand's ashram, had been missing for six days after uploading a video on social media, alleging that "a senior leader of the sant community" was harassing her. She did not name Chinmayanand, a former Union minister. But in a police complaint, her father accused Chinmayanand of sexually harassing his daughter and alleged that he was the reason behind her disappearance. The Supreme Court took cognisance of the matter on Thursday after a group of lawyers wrote to Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi about it.

"The Delhi Police team which arrived here gave us a copy of the Supreme Court order before taking us with them to Delhi to meet our daughter," the father of the law student told PTI on phone. Besides the parents, two younger siblings of the woman are on their way to Delhi, he said. A team of two sub-inspectors, including a lady officer, and four other policemen will be accompanying the post-graduate student's family to Delhi.

The woman, who was traced to Rajasthan on Friday and produced within hours before the Supreme Court, had told the judges in an in-camera interaction that she did not want to go back to her hometown till she meets her parents. She told the court that she will decide on her future course after meeting her parents.

The woman told the judges that she had left Shahjahanpur with her three college mates "in order to protect herself". The court said the woman will be Delhi for four days and the apex court registry will ensure her safe stay. It asked the Delhi Police Commissioner to ensure that the student's parents travel safely from Shahjahanpur to Delhi. The court will hear the matter again on Monday.

PTI