The Karnataka Police has filed an FIR against former minister and JD(S) leader H.D. Revanna and his son and Hassan MP Prajal Revanna in connection with a sexual harassment case.
Prajal, the grandson of former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, was the NDA candidate in Hassan which went to the polls on April 26.
The case against the father-son duo was registered at Holenarasipur police station under sections 354 A, 354 D, 506, and 509 of the IPC based on a complaint by his cook.
The complainant, who claims to be a relative of Revanna's wife Bhavani, alleged that four months after she started working, Revanna used to sexually harass her, and his son Prajwal used to make video calls to her daughter and have "vulgar conversations" with her. She also alleged that there is a threat to her life as well as that of other members of her family.
The Congress has been staging protests demanding the arrest of Prajal after several sex videos allegedly featuring him with multiple women started doing the rounds in recent days. The state government had formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the case.
"Obscene video clips are circulating in Hassan district, where it appears that women have been sexually assaulted," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said.
"In this background, the Chairperson of the Women's Commission (Dr Nagalakshmi Chowdhary) had written a letter to the government to conduct an SIT investigation. This decision has been taken in response to their request," he added.
Meanwhile, reports claimed that Prajal left for Germany on Saturday morning.
Both the JD(S) and its ally BJP have distanced themselves from the controversy, with JD(S) leader and former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy saying the person involved in wrongdoings will have to face its implications.
"Let all the facts come out through investigation. No matter who is at fault, whoever they are, there is no question of forgiving them for any reason. Therefore, I will talk about this after the investigation report is completely out," Kumaraswamy said.
"Whoever eats salt, must drink water, that's the law of the land. If he has gone to another country, the government will bring him back. I have nothing to do with this," he added.
BJP spokesperson S. Prakash said the party has nothing to do with the videos nor does it have any comments to make on the SIT probe announced by the state government.
The JD(S) joined the NDA in September last year.
