(Trigger warning: Sexual abuse, violence against women. Reader discretion advised.)
Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) supremo HD Devegowda, was suspended from the party on Tuesday, 30 April, after complaints accusing him of sexually abusing several women surfaced, sparking a political storm in Karnataka.
"His suspension is till the investigation is completed," former Karnataka CM and Prajwal's uncle HD Kumaraswamy was quoted as saying by ANI.
Pen drives containing explicit videos of women being sexually abused and coerced into sex are being circulated in Hassan, and they allegedly contain visuals of Prajwal Revanna, among other influential politicians.
A thirty three-year-old incumbent MP from Hassan, Prajwal reportedly left the country even as Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday, 27 April, announced that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) would probe the complaints against him. He is currently in Germany, as per media reports.
In a post on X on 27 April, Siddaramaiah said the decision was reportedly taken after the chairperson of the state women's commission wrote a letter to the government, requesting the same, on 25 April.
"We welcome SIT against Prajwal Revanna. We've taken a decision to recommend our party's national president to suspend him from the party till the SIT investigation is completed," JD(S) core committee president GT Devegowda was quoted as saying by ANI.
Fourteen Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka, including Hassan, went to polls on 26 April.
Here's a lowdown of what happened and what the allegations against Prajwal Revanna are.
'Kept Calling Me To His Room': What Does the FIR State?
On Sunday, 28 April, a First Information Report (FIR) was filed at the Holenarsipura police station based on a complaint by a 47-year-old woman, who accused Prajwal and his father and Holenarsipura MLA HD Revanna of sexually harassing her and her daughter between January 2019 and January 2022.
The complainant, who claimed that she is a relative of Prajwal Revanna's wife, was also one of his employees.
In the FIR accessed by The Quint, she alleged:
"After four months of joining, Revanna kept calling me to his room. There were six women workers in the house and everyone said that they were scared when Prajwal Revanna came home. The male workers in the house also alerted the women workers to be careful... Whenever [HD] Revanna's wife wasn't there, he used to call the women to the store room and touch them while giving them fruits. He used to remove saree pins and used to sexually assault women."
The case has been registered under Sections 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 509 (outraging the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The woman claimed in the FIR that she decided to file a complaint after she came across news reports of other women being sexually exploited. The woman also stated that Prajwal allegedly behaved inappropriately with her daughter during a video call.
"A case was registered after the victim gave her statement. The SIT has taken over the probe and will look into it," a senior official from the Hassan Police told The Quint.
How Did the Incident Come to Light?
On 25 April, the Chairperson of the Karnataka Women's Commission, Nagalakshmi Choudhary, wrote to the Chief Minister and the state police chief about the accusations against Prajwal. The letter alleged:
"In Hassan district, pen drives containing visuals of violence against women and women being forced to have sex with politicians are being circulated. A proper police investigation should be conducted…"
The commission's letter was based on a complaint by the Karnataka Mahila Dourjanya Virodhi Vedike, which alleged that "thousands of innocent women are being used for sexual acts in Hassan; they are being filmed on phones and these videos are being used to blackmail them."
"A Special Investigation Team should be ordered to immediately find those who are harming the dignity and existence of the women," it further stated.
The SIT will be headed by BK Singh, Additional Directorate General Immigration and Passports (DG-IP), the state government said on Sunday. The members include Suman D Pennekar, DG Crime Investigation Department (DG CID), and Seema Latkar, Mysuru Superintendent of Police (SP), as per The News Minute.
What Did Prajwal Revanna & JD(S) Say?
In a complaint on 23 April, filed by the BJP-JD(S)'s election agent, Prajwal accused a person named Naveen Gowda and others of "morphing the videos and showing them to voters on pen drives, CDs, WhatsApp, and mobile phones to dissuade them from voting for Shri Prajwal Revanna."
"Pursuant to the complaint filed, legal action should be taken against the above persons who are inciting and committing malpractice to avoid fair voting in the election," the complaint accessed by The Quint stated.
The case was registered at Hassan police station under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.
The senior police official told The Quint that only two FIRs have been registered in the case so far – one by the 47-year-old employee and the other by Prajwal.
Last year, too, Prajwal had purportedly filed a complaint against Naveen Gowda and others, making the same allegation.
As per The News Minute, he had obtained an ex-parte injunction from a sessions court against 89 media houses, hindering them from publishing "defamatory" articles against him.
Meanwhile, in a statement to the media in Shivamogga on Monday, 29 April, HD Kumaraswamy said, as per The Indian Express: "Do not bring my name or Devegowda's name into it as we respect women. We learned about the Revanna issue now and had we known about it earlier, we would have initiated action. The videos have caused embarrassment to the family and society."
Speaking to The Quint, S Prakash, Karnataka BJP spokesperson, said:
"We, as a party, have nothing to do with the videos and neither do we have comments to make on the SIT probe announced by the state government. The government should take action as per the law. Our alliance is with the Janata Dal (Secular) party. It is their internal issue, and Kumaraswamy has categorically said that if he [Prajwal Revanna] has done anything wrong, he should face action."
JD(S) MLAs, including Sharana Gowda Kandakur and Samruddhi Manjunath, have demanded that Revanna be sacked as he "has caused embarrassment to the party."
'BJP Knew About Videos'
The ruling Congres in Karnataka, meanwhile, has questioned the BJP and the JD(S) about giving a ticket to Prajwal Revanna from Hassan.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar demanded answers from the BJP and JD(S). "The Prime minister, BY Vijayendra, Shobakka, Ashok, Kumaranna, and Ashwath Narayan must answer to the people," he said, as per The News Minute.
Home Minister G Parameshwara, as per Hindustan Times, said: "In case he [Prajwal] has gone to a foreign country, SIT will be responsible for bringing him back and continuing the investigation. We will not tell the SIT to do the investigation this or that way."
Meanwhile, a purported letter by BJP leader Devaraj Gowda, written to BJP state president BY Vijayendra on 8 December 2023, has also surfaced, which warned the party against fielding Revanna as a candidate in the Lok Sabha elections.
"The BJP, under the leadership of Narendra Modiji, has settled in the hearts of the women of the country … but the family members of HD Revanna, the main leader of Hassan of the JD(S) with whom we are in alliance, are facing grave allegations…"
The letter further stated he received a pen drive with explicit visuals involving Revanna and others, which he claimed could be used as a "brahmastra" against the BJP.
The letter was shared by Congress leader Pawan Khera in a post on X.
"If we align with the JD(S) and if we nominate a JD(S) candidate in Hassan for the Lok Sabha elections, these videos can be used as a brahmastra and we will be tainted as a party that aligned with the family of a rapist. This will be a big blow to the image of our party nationally," the BJP leader said in the letter, as per The News Minute.
"Why you gave the Hassan parliamentary ticket to a JDS candidate, despite knowing that hundreds of women were abused by the candidate? [sic]," Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge posted on X.
The Congress party took to X to allege: "Today again, the truth about Narendra Modi and BJP, who pretend to respect women, has been exposed before the country."
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