Chinmayanand case: College says missing law student ‘absent since August 5’

Former BJP MP Chinmayanand, president of the college’s management committee, has been booked for abduction on the basis of a complaint by the student’s father.

The woman is among 20 students of her batch. Her batchmates said they barely spoke to her about the issue and that it was never raised before. The hostel room where the woman was lodged has been sealed by the police.

Only three of the 14 rooms in the hostel were occupied and now, the remaining occupants have also left the rooms, according to the college administration.

“We have a complaint box here students can submit anonymous complaints but no such complaints (of harassment) ever came to me. When we checked our records, we found that that girl has been absent since August 5,” said the college principal, adding they do not keep any attendance record of the hostel.

The college is barely 3 km from the woman’s residence and her father claimed that she chose to live in the hostel as she had taken up a job at the college to help with the e-library after her classes and was also taking coaching sessions.

The student was paid Rs 5,000 as honorarium and she was employed as she told the college administration that she was facing a financial crisis, the college authorities said.

The woman’s family is in shock and worried about her security. “When she called from someone’s phone on August 24, she sounded scared and wanted to tell me something, but I started scolding her immediately as her phone was switched off for the last few days and we were worried… I wish I had listened to her as well. She was trying to give some hints but out of anger, I did not listen,” said the student’s mother, tears rolling down her cheeks.

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The student’s father, a heart patient who says that he hasn’t taken a bath since the last five days due to anxiety about the possibility of bad news, said, “In the city, some of the reputed colleges are run by Swamiji (Chinmayanand), so I had enrolled my daughter and my younger son into the law college.” He strongly denies the college administration’s claim that the student was absent since August 5.

“This is not right… Her phone was switched off and we thought she might be in the hostel. I am worried about her security. We had no idea about any harassment till that video went viral. Maybe she had called to inform us but we did not listen.”

He said his wife spoke to “Swamiji” and he told her that he would try to look for the student when he returned on Tuesday.

“There was lot of pressure on us to remove his name from my complaint but I listened to the video of my daughter again and again and I could not relate it to any other sant, who is associated with the college. Thus, despite all the pressure, I decided not to remove the name,” he said.

“Didi ko kuch kar diya to rote hi reh jayenge (If something happens to my sister, we can only cry),” the student’s brother said, adding that he slept at 3 am as he was trying to help the police locate his sister.