Horrific details of sexual offences committed by former Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna were revealed after the Special Investigative Team (SIT) of Karnataka Police submitted the charge sheet against him before the Special Court of Electoral Representatives. The former Lok Sabha MP used to threaten women who didn't budge saying that nobody could touch him as he was a parliamentarian.
The grandson of JD(S) patriarch H.D. Deve Gowda and son of party MLA HD Revanna, Prajwal Revanna is facing charges of rape and sexual harassment in multiple cases. Four separate cases have been registered against the 33-year-old who had failed in his bid to retain the Hassan constituency in the recent polls. The cases of sexual abuse came to light after pen drives containing explicit videos allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna were reportedly circulated in Hassan, ahead of Lok Sabha polls there on April 26. The JD(S) suspended him from the party following the cases filed against him.
Horrific details of sexual crimes
According to the 1,632 page chargesheet filed by the SIT, Prajwal is a habitual sex offender who blackmailed his victims. He demanded sexual favours from them repeatedly and threatened them with consequences otherwise. Prajwal used to record raping the women so that he could use it to blackmail them in the future, the charge sheet claims.
Quoting a witness, who used to be a housemaid in the Revanna residence in Holenarsipura of Hassan district, The South First reported that Prajwal sexually assaulted her when her colleagues were not around. In 2020, she was among the domestic helpers taken to Basavanagudi in Bengaluru to clean a house that belonged to the Revannas. The witness told the SIT that while she was busy cleaning a bedroom on the first floor of the house, he entered and latched the door. The then MP demanded an oil massage from the witness, The South First said.
When she refused, Revanna threatened to kill her and sexually abused her. He ignored the woman's multiple pleas to free her and foiled her efforts to escape the room. He recorded the sexual violence on his mobile phone and threatened to jail her husband if she ever spoke of the incident, the report said.
The survivor went on to add that she was sexually harassed while working in the first-floor hall of the Holenarsipura house the same year and forced her into phone sex.
Prajwal Revanna has been charged under multiple sections of the IPC and the Information Technology (IT) Act. He has been booked IPC’s section 376(2)(k) — rape by a person in a position of control or dominance over a woman, Section 354(A) — sexual harassment, Section 354(B) — assault or use of criminal force with intent to disrobe a woman, Section 354(C) — voyeurism, Section 506 — criminal intimidation and Section 376(2) — repeated rape of the same woman, among others.
