The Yogi Adityanath government has decided to withdraw the rape and abduction case lodged against former junior home minister Swami Chinmayanand - more than seven years after he was booked under these charges by the Shahjahanpur Police. According to reports, an FIR against him was lodged in November 2011, on the complaint of a girl who had spent several years at his ashram. The girl has accused that she was kept at the ashram, when she was raped by the former minister. Her father had lodged an FIR against him, however, Chinmayanand moved to the High Court, which had stayed his arrest. The case has been pending ever since then.

On April 9 in a shocking incident, father of the woman who said she was raped by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and his accomplices passed away on Monday night in Unnao. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, lashed out at the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh for letting the accused, who is an MLA from the ruling party, roam free. Rahul took a jibe at the Modi government's 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' campaign, tweeting: "Save the girl, get yourself killed. A young girl accuses a BJP MLA of rape. The police, instead of arresting the MLA, take the girl's father into custody. Immediately after that, he dies in police custody." Reportedly, the victim and her family reportedly attempted self-immolation near Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's residence after the police ignored an FIR in the rape case. She alleged that a BJP MLA had raped her. Apart from the police officials, the woman also blamed CM Adityanath, accusing him of turning a deaf ear to her plight.She claimed her family members are facing life threats ever since they approached the police to seek justice. "Since we lodged the FIR, we were threatened," she added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 10, 2018 11:25 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).