India / Student disowns statement against Chinmayanand in sexual abuse case

Lucknow: The 24-year-old law student, who had earlier accused former BJP minister Chinmayanand of sexual assault and harassment, on Tuesday disowned her statement before a special court in Lucknow where the case is being heard.

The woman, who was a student of a law college run by a trust of Chinmayanand in Shahjahanpur, told the court she had levelled the allegations against the former Union minister “under pressure by miscreants”. The prosecution has moved an application to file a case against her for perjury.

“The statement of the law student was recorded on Tuesday before Additional District Judge Pawan Kumar Rai. The law student told the court that she had made the allegation of sexual assault on Chinmayanand under pressure from miscreants,” said government counsel Abhay Tripathi.

“After the law student backtracked from her statement, I declared her hostile and sought the court’s permission to cross-examine her. In the cross-examination, the law student maintained that she had made the earlier statement under pressure from miscreants…. She also maintained that she was under pressure when she had filed the complaint to the police. The woman, however, did not identify the ‘miscreants’,” the prosecution lawyer said.

The prosecution has moved an application requesting to register a case against her for giving false statement. “The court has asked the law student to file her counter by October 15, the next day of hearing,” Tripathi added.