Yes it is safe to download BitTorrent and it's virus free.
I've downloaded BitTorrent and it's perfectly fine but if you're worried about it you can download it to an older computer and use Linux on that computer to download BitTorrent to protect your other computer.
But I've downloaded BitTorrent on computers without any issues.
However just be careful what you actually Torrent and use VPN when Torrenting to hide your IP address to prevent yourself from getting caught.
But avoid downloading anything that could be really illegal although downloading things through Torrents is illegal for anything and can get you into trouble.
But I've used BitTorrent for a few years now using a VPN to hide my IP address and never had any issues.