 "JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy. PTI file")
Karnataka’s former Chief Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday said a pen drive containing obscene videos of his nephew and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna were allegedly circulated by police officers.
Addressing a press conference, Kumaraswamy said, “I’m addressing this PC over a dirty incident which shouldn’t have happened in society. On 21st April, a pen drive was circulated throughout the state. It was done by Police officers. They circulated it in Bengaluru Rural, Mandya, and also in Hassan intentionally.”
Revanna, who has been accused of sexual harassment, was dismissed from the party last week after his uncle Kumaraswamy said that JD(U) would not give “any protection” to him.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has constituted an SIT team to probe the matter.
What did Kumaraswamy reveal?
Elaborating on the chain of events, Kumaraswamy said that Revanna’s polling agent Poornachandra filed a complaint with Hassan’s Deputy Commissioner and the police on April 22.
Meanwhile, the videos were made viral just a night before on April 21 by a person named Naveen Gowda on X, Kumaraswamy said.
“I am not defending anything in those videos. Law has to take its own course, punishment must be given. There is no question of safeguarding anyone, irrespective of who they are,” the JD(U) leader said.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsKumaraswamy further alleged that while the party lodged a complaint against Naveen Gowda, Karthik Gowda, Chetan and Putti/Purtaraju on April 21, no action was taken before the Returning Officer on April 26 notified the party that the case was closed.
“I understand what’s happening. I thought SIT would do a free and fair investigation. But I readied it’s not a special investigation team, it’s a Siddaramaiah investigation team and Shivakumar investigation team,” the leader said.
PM Modi on Revanna
JD(S) is in alliance with Bhartiya Janata Party in Karnataka. The saffron party has come under fire by the Opposition soon after Revanna’s case became public.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, made his first comments on the sexual assault case, saying that there is “zero-tolerance” for such people.
“It is a law and order issue. If such an incident took place in Bengal, then the Bengal government of would be responsible. If it happened in Gujarat, then the Gujarat government is responsible…if it happened in Karnataka, then the Karnataka government is responsible to take action,” he said in an interview with Times Now.
What is the case?
A video clip, allegedly showing Prajwal Revanna, surfaced on social media, a day after the second phase of Lok Sabha elections concluded on April 26. Fourteen out of 28 seats from Karnataka went to poll in this phase.
The explicit video was allegedly shot by Revanna and was circulated widely in the Hassan constituency.
Following this, a woman lodged a formal complaint accusing the MP of sexually assaulting her multiple times between 2019 and 2022.
The woman also claimed that Revanna had misbehaved with her daughter and held “vulgar conversations” with her.
In the complaint, the woman also named Revanna’s father HD Revanna, saying that he sexually harassed her when his wife was away.