Former Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Chinmayanand on Monday wrote to the Uttar Pradesh Police demanding that they charge the woman who has accused him of rape under the Gangsters Act, PTI reported.

While the BJP leader was booked on watered down sexual assault charges but not rape, the complainant was arrested for alleged extortion. A rape charge carries a term of seven years extending to life, but Section 376C of the Indian Penal Code – sexual intercourse by a person in authority – comes with a punishment of five to 10 years. Chinmayanand was charged with stalking, wrongful confinement, and criminal intimidation.

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The Special Investigation Team looking into the extortion allegations against the woman as well as the rape charges against the BJP leader said that she and her accomplices – Sanjay, Sachin and Vikram – demanded Rs 5 crore from Chinmayanand. They allegedly threatened to upload video clips of him getting a massage from her if he does not pay up.

Chinmayanand’s advocate Pooja Singh filed a petition in the court of the chief judicial magistrate reiterating his demand. “A petition has been filed in the court of CJM Omveer Singh stating that the Gangsters Act should also be slapped on the four accused persons, including the woman, for demanding extortion,” Singh said. “In the application, it is also said that the court should send the case to a special court for hearing under the Gangster Act.” She added that the court has reserved its order.

In August, the 23-year-old complainant went missing soon after posting a video detailing her ordeal. Although she did not name anyone, her father named Chinmayanand in a missing-person complaint. On August 27, the police booked Chinmayanand on kidnapping charges. The woman was found in Rajasthan on August 30, and was produced in the Supreme Court. Later in September, she claimed that she possessed about 35 videos that would implicate Chinmayanand.

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