 "Videos, warning letter, pen drive & more: How Karnataka sex scandal involving Deve Gowda's grandson Prajwal Revanna unfolded")
At the height of the election campaign, India has been gripped by the Karnataka sex scandal involving JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.
Sex videos purportedly featuring Prajwal appeared online three days before the 26 April polling day in Hassan, the district from where Prajwal is running for election.
This was followed by a police complaint filed by a woman from Holenarsipura town alleging that JD (S) leader Prajwal Revanna, had sexually harassed her.
The Karnataka government has formed a Special Investigation Team to investigate the case and prominent figures are likely to be questioned to verify if the videos are authentic and not “doctored,” as claimed by Revanna.
Here’s a detailed look at how the sex scandal unfolded.
The first lawsuit
It was Prajwal Revanna himself, who made one of the earliest public references to the sex videos that has stirred a massive controversy in the country.
According to The Indian Express, in June 2023, the 33-year-old JD(S) leader and Lok Sabha member moved a Bengaluru civil court against 86 media outlets and three private persons, seeking a gag order to prevent the dissemination of what he referred to as “fake news” and “morphed photographs/videos.”
The report claims Prajwal was granted an injunction from the court on 2 June on the grounds of that “there is a threat of broadcasting, publishing and circulating such fake news, morphed photographs/video against the plaintiff by the defendants.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe defendants in the case included Prajwal’s former driver, who was considered a family member and had worked there for over seven years.
He reportedly had access to the MP’s cellphones and other electronic devices and allegedly began threatening him over the videos.
The driver later filed a police complaint in Hassan district, alleging that he and his wife were kidnapped by Prajwal for not handing over 13 acres of land, the newspaper said.
Local BJP leader’s letter to party chief
The matter came to light once again in January this year when advocate and local BJP leader G Devaraje Gowda spoke about the “obscene pictures and the gag order at a press conference in Hassan.
Gowda, who had lost to Prajwal’s father HD Revanna from Holenarasipura in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, alleged that he had written about the sex videos to then state party president BY Vijayendra in December last year.
“Revanna is calling me a dirty fellow. It is his son who is a dirty fellow. His obscene pictures are part of a case he has filed in court (for the media gag order in June 2023). He has obtained a stay. Let him produce any videos of me sleeping with women. I go back to my family every day,” he said.
According to The Indian Express, Devaraje says he got access to the videos through Prajwal’s previous driver, and claimed that these videos feature women, including government officials, performing sexual acts.
ಅರಸೀಕೆರೆ ವಿಧಾನಸಭಾ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ತಿರುಪತಿ ಬೆಟ್ಟದ ಬಳಿ ನಡೆದ ಜೆಡಿಎಸ್-ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ಕಾರ್ಯಕರ್ತರ ಸಮಾವೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸಚಿವರಾದ ಶ್ರೀ ಎ ನಾರಾಯಣಸ್ವಾಮಿ ಅವರು ಭಾಗವಹಿಸಿ ಚುನಾವಣಾ ಪ್ರಚಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಬಲ ತುಂಬಿದರು. ಈ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಶ್ರೀ ಎನ್ ಆರ್ ಸಂತೋಷ್ ಹಾಗೂ ಜೆಡಿಎಸ್ ಬಿಜೆಪಿಯ ಹಲವಾರು ಮುಖಂಡರು, ಕಾರ್ಯಕರ್ತರು ಉಪಸ್ಥಿತರಿದ್ದರು.#JDS #BJP… pic.twitter.com/Tm6A8pvLS1
— Prajwal Revanna (@iPrajwalRevanna) April 17, 2024
“It was from (the driver) who I was representing that I came to know about the videos and pictures of Revanna’s son. I do not know how he got the videos,” he told newspaper, adding that he did not release them out of respect for the women.
“Out of respect for the women, I did not release the videos. It would have caused a calamity in their homes. Who would be held responsible if the women committed suicide?” he said.
In his letter to BY Vijayendra dated 8 December 2023, Gowda said, “There are grave allegations against several leaders of the HD Deve Gowda family, including Prajwal Revanna, the NDA candidate of the JD(S), the party that we are in alliance with,” as per India Today.
He claimed that there were a total of 2,976 videos in the pen drive and that the videos “were then being used to blackmail them into continuing to engage in sexual activities.”
The BJP leader further claimed that another pen drive containing these videos had reached national leaders of the Congress.
“If we align with the JD(S) and if we nominate a JD(S) candidate in Hassan for the Lok Sabha elections, these videos can be used as a ‘Brahmastra’ (destructive weapon), and we will be tainted as a party that aligned with the family of a rapist. This will be a big blow to the image of our party nationally,” Gowda said in his letter, as per the news channel.
Viral videos, case registered
The sex videos, allegedly recorded by Prajwal, were distributed through hundreds of pen drives in Hassan a day ahead of the 26 April Lok Sabha elections. The videos, which have now taken over the internet, allegedly reveal Prajwal sexually abusing women and coercing them into having sex.
As per another Indian Express report, most video clips were said to have been either shot in Hassan or Holenarasipura.
Later on 28 April, a woman filed a complaint with the Holenarasipura police, alleging that Prajwal and his father, HD Revanna, had allegedly sexually harassed her.
She stated that she approached the police after she saw the video clips, narrating their ordeal.
As per her complaint, the abuse took place from 2019 to 2022.
A Times of India report claims the woman told the police she was a relative of Revanna’s wife Bhavani and was invited to work as a house help in 2011.
In 2015, Revanna helped her secure a cook’s job at a hostel and then in 2019 she re-joined Revanna’s house.
“Six other domestic helps in the house would say they are scared of Prajwal. The male employees too would ask us to be wary of Revanna and Prajwal. Whenever his wife Bhavani was away, Revanna would repeatedly touch me inappropriately, disrobe me, and sexually assault me. While I was working in the kitchen, Prajwal would grope me from behind. Prajwal would ask the other employees to bring my daughter to do an oil massage for him. Prajwal would make video calls to my daughter and speak obscenely,” the FIR quotes the woman as saying, as per the Times of India report.
Following the alleged abuse, she quit the job and also blocked Revanna’s phone number.
Based on the complaint, the police registered an FIR under IPC for sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment, stalking, punishment for criminal intimidation, and word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman.
The FIR refers Revanna and Prajwal as accused No 1 and 2 respectively.
He has denied the allegations and claimed that the videos being circulated are doctored, as per NDTV.
SIT formed
Taking cognizance of the pen drives, the Karnataka government has ordered the formation of an SIT on 27 April to probe the videos.
According to Republic TV, the three-member SIT of IPS officers is led by the Additional Director General of Police (CID) Bijay Kumar Singh, Assistant Inspector General of Police Suman D Pennekar and Mysuru Superintendent of Police Seema Latkar.
The chairperson of the state women’s commission, Nagalakshmi Chaudhury, also wrote to the state police chief and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
“In Hassan, pen drives are being distributed containing obscene videos of women. It is now circulating on social media. This is most distressing and there are hundreds of women in the videos. The women’s commission has also received a pen drive and there is a complaint as well,” the chairperson said last week, as per Indian Express.
The National Commission for Women strongly condemns the alleged sexual abuse involving Mr. Prajwal Revanna. These events endanger women's safety and perpetuate a culture of violence. Hon’ble Chairperson of NCW @sharmarekha has taken suo motu cognisance in this matter and has sent… pic.twitter.com/e8tgY9pH6d
— NCW (@NCWIndia) April 30, 2024
“Based on the complaint, we have written to the state police chief and the Hassan Superintendent of Police, saying that… the videos seem to have been recorded under duress, and the persons who have recorded the video and distributed the videos must be given strict punishment. I have written to the Chief Minister to constitute a Special Investigation Team to bring the accused to book at the earliest. This is a very shameful incident for the country,” she said.
Suspension
Prajwal was suspended on Tuesday by his party over the explicit videos.
According to India Today, JD(S) MLA Sharanagouda Kandkur on Sunday wrote to party chief HD Deve Gowda, asking for the expulsion of Prajwal as the case had caused embarrassment to the party.
“In the past few days, videos showing sexual acts are being circulated statewide, which has caused a huge embarrassment for the party. It looks like it is Prajwal Revanna as he was seen there in some parts of the video. At the outset, it looks like he is the accused. Hence, I request you to immediately expel him from the party,” Kandkur said.
#WATCH | On being asked if JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna will be expelled from the party, former Karnataka CM and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy says, "Wait for some time. We will give the information after our Core Committee meeting..." pic.twitter.com/VOzfl2GIy6
— ANI (@ANI) April 30, 2024
As per NDTV, Revanna’s brother and former CM HD Kumaraswamy, who has distanced himself from the controversy, had earlier said, “A decision was already made. Tomorrow it is to be recommended at the core committee meeting in Hubballi. Because he is a Member of Parliament, it has to be done from Delhi.”
Meanwhile, Prajwal has reportedly left for Germany on Sunday from Bengaluru.
His father HD Revanna has stated that his son has not run away and has gone on a pre-planned tour. He added that Prajwal will face the probe and did not know that an FIR was going to be filed.
With inputs from agencies
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