Former MP Prajwal Revanna convicted in rape case

BENGALURU: A special court for elected representatives on Friday convicted Prajwal Revanna, expelled JD(S) leader and former Lok Sabha MP from Hassan, in the rape case of a domestic help, registered at Holenarsipur Rural police station.

Prajwal, the grandson of former PM H D Deve Gowda, was held guilty in one of the four rape cases registered against him, and the court will pronounce the quantum of punishment on Saturday. After the verdict against him was pronounced, Prajwal Revanna broke down and was seen weeping.

Earlier, seeking clarification on some technical matters, Judge Santosh Gajanana Bhat had postponed the verdict, which was to be announced on July 30. The verdict was announced on Friday.

The matter came into light in April last year after obscene videos of sexual harassment against multiple women were leaked ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

In November 2024, the Supreme Court had dismissed an appeal filed by Prajwal Revanna challenging the Karnataka High Court’s order denying him bail in connection with the case of rape and sexual abuse. A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma refused to entertain the plea of Revanna.”Dismissed,” Justice Trivedi said.

As senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Prajwal Revanna, told the bench that the offence of Section 376 IPC (rape) was not mentioned in the complaint, Justice Trivedi pointed out that there are several other complaints. “You are so powerful”, the bench told Prajwal Revanna’s counsel.

Prajwal Revanna had challenged the Karnataka Hih Court order dated October 21, whereby it dismissed his regular bail and anticipatory bail pleas. On May 31 last year, he was arrested at Bengaluru airport by CID’s SIT on his return from Germany, where he had remained for 35 days, after hundreds of explicit videos surfaced, allegedly featuring him with multiple women. He lost the Lok Sabha election by over 40,000 votes. (ANI)

Prajwal Revanna is the prime accused in four criminal cases filed last year, after over obscene video clips, allegedly depicting the sexual abuse of multiple women, surfaced on social media. In June 2024, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Karnataka Police, which is investigating cases of sexual assault and harassment against Prajwal Revanna, registered a fourth case against him.

While three cases registered against Prajwal Revanna invoked the Indian Penal Code (IPC)’s section for sexual assault, the fourth case was registered under sections for sexual harassment, stalking and criminal intimidation of a victim as well as clandestinely recording and sharing images of the victim. (ANI)