Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda on Saturday said that action must be taken in accordance with the law in regard to the sexual abuse allegations against his grandson and Lok Sabha MP Prajwal Revanna, The Indian Express reported.
Gowda added that Prajwal Revanna, who represents Karnataka’s Hassan constituency, should not be spared. However, he claimed that the cases against his son, Janata Dal (Secular) MLA and former Karnataka minister HD Revanna, were false. HD Revanna is Prajwal Revanna’s father.
On Monday, a Bengaluru court granted bail to HD Revanna in connection with the alleged abduction of a woman, as part of the sexual abuse case against Prajwal Revanna.
The police had arrested HD Revanna on May 4, after a special court rejected his plea for anticipatory bail, on the complaint by a relative of the woman who claimed that she had been raped by Prajwal Revanna.
On Saturday, Gowda told reporters that “people also know that false cases were registered against HD Revanna”. The former prime minister, however, said that no one in his family had any objection over the case against Prajwal Revanna.
Gowda remarked: “Many people are involved in this episode and I don’t want to take any names.”
He added that all those involved must be punished. “The women victims must get justice.”
The sexual abuse case
On April 27, the Congress government in Karnataka had formed a Special Investigation Team to probe allegations of sexual abuse against Prajwal Revanna.
This came after videos of alleged sexual assault against several women, allegedly recorded by Prajwal Revanna himself, surfaced ahead of Lok Sabha polls in the constituency on April 26.
Prajwal Revanna is believed to be in Germany, where he flew on the intervening night of April 27 and April 28 using his diplomatic passport.
So far, three women have filed complaints against Prajwal Revanna alleging sexual assault.
On April 28, HD Revanna and Prajwal Revanna were booked by the Karnataka Police for sexual harassment and criminal intimidation. The first information report was based on a complaint by a woman, who worked in the Revanna household for three-and-a-half years.
The former Karnataka minister was arrested on the basis of the second first information report. In this case, the woman, who worked at the Revanna household three years ago, had allegedly been abducted to prevent her from testifying against Prajwal Revanna. The first information report was filed on a complaint by the woman’s son in Mysuru district.
In his complaint, the man alleged that his mother is one of the women in the videos of alleged sexual abuse by Prajwal Revanna that had come to light in late April. He alleged that a man named Satish Babanna, a close aide of the Revanna family, had come to their house on the night of April 29 and coerced his mother into accompanying him.
The third first information report was filed based on a complaint by a woman who was a zilla panchayat member and used to visit legislators to seek funds for development works. The woman alleged that she was raped and harassed by Prajwal Revanna between January 1, 2021, and April 25, 2024.
In the third first information report, Prajwal Revanna has been booked for rape, assault and voyeurism – under Indian Penal Code sections 376 (2)(n) (commits rape repeatedly on same woman), 354(a)(1) (physical contact and advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures), 354(b) (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and 354(c) (voyeurism).
He has also been booked for violation of privacy under the Information Technology Act.
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