 "NSUI members burn a poster of JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna during a protest against his involvement in the alleged sexual abuse case, in Bengaluru, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. File Photo/PTI")
Prajwal Revanna, former Janata Dal (Secular) MP from Hassan, has been found guilty of raping his domestic help by a special court on Friday (August 1). This is one of the four sexual abuse and rape cases registered against him.
The Special Court of Sessions for criminal cases against former and present MPs and MLAs will announce the quantum of punishment on Saturday. The allegations of sexual abuse against Revanna had surfaced last year during the Lok Sabha elections.
We take a look at what happened.
How Prajwal Revanna’s ‘sexual abuse’ came to light
Nearly 3,000 videos of sexual abuse of multiple women allegedly by Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, began circulating in Karnataka’s Hassan in April last year. As the videos stirred public outrage, the Karnataka government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the videos.
However, by then, Revanna had quietly left for Germany .
The SIT identified around 70 women in the leaked videos. Only four women came forward to file complaints, as per The News Minute (TNM).
The explicit videos were allegedly recorded by the then Hassan MP himself. Revanna returned to India by the end of May 2024 and was arrested on arrival at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport .
The rape case in which Revanna has been found guilty
On April 28, 2024, a domestic worker filed a complaint against Prajwal Revanna and his father, HD Revanna, for sexual harassment and criminal intimidation.
The 48-year-old farm labourer was working at Prajwal Revanna’s family farmhouse in Gannikada and also accompanied them during their trips to Bengaluru.
The woman was allegedly raped twice, once at the Gannikada farmhouse in Hassan and then at his residence at Basavanagudi in Bengaluru during the COVID lockdown in 2021.
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More ShortsThe chargesheet said that the first assault took place at the farmhouse in 2021. The woman alleged that Prajwal Revanna raped her by summoning her inside the room at the farmhouse on the pretext of bringing him water. She accused him of raping her again when she had accompanied the family to their house in Bengaluru.
“[The victim] was cleaning a room on the first floor when Prajwal came and asked if the room was cleaned. He then asked her to fetch some water. [The victim] came back with a jug (chombu) of water when Prajwal suddenly pulled her inside his room. He then locked the door. [The victim] asked him to open the door, “Baagilu tegi anna, bhaya aagutte (Open the door anna, I’m scared),” the chargesheet said.
Revanna told her that “nothing will happen” and then went on to allegedly rape her. As per the chargesheet, he also recorded the act on his phone.
A day after she filed the complaint, the victim went missing. A case of kidnapping was filed against Prajwal Revanna’s parents, HD Revanna and Bhavani, and his relative, Satish Babanna, after her son approached the police.
The parents were allegedly trying to prevent the survivor from testifying against their son. The woman was rescued by the SIT on May 4 last year.
How Prajwal Revanna was found guilty
Prajwal Revanna was on Friday convicted of raping his domestic worker by the Special Court for People’s Representatives.
A major breakthrough in the case came last November when a DNA analysis report found Prajwal Revanna’s and the victim’s DNA on the petticoat that the victim was seen wearing in the video.
During the probe, the SIT gathered 123 pieces of evidence and submitted a chargesheet spanning almost 2,000 pages.
The trial began in May this year. The court examined 23 witnesses and reviewed key forensic science laboratory (FSL) reports of the videos, along with spot inspection reports from the crime scene, as per India Today.
Special public prosecutor Ashok Nayak told Times of India, “It took 38 adjournments/dates to complete the trial, including argument dates. The prosecution examined 26 witnesses and marked 180 documents as exhibits.”
The special court framed the charges against Prajwal Revanna under sections 376(2)(k) (raping a woman over whom one has control or power), 376(2)(n) (repeatedly raping the same woman), 354A (sexual harassment), 354B (disrobing a woman), 354C (voyeurism), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66E (violation of privacy) of the Information Technology Act.
The court will announce the sentence on Saturday.
With inputs from agencies