A Bengaluru court on Monday granted bail to Janata Dal (Secular) MLA and former Karnataka minister HD Revanna in a sexual abuse case involving him and his son Prajwal Revanna, reported Bar and Bench.
The special MLA/MP court in Bengaluru granted the bail on the condition of furnishing a personal bond for Rs 5 lakh with two sureties.
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.
This came shortly after videos of alleged sexual assault against several women, allegedly recorded by Prajwal Revanna, the MP from Karnataka’s Hassan constituency, 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. He was suspended from the Janata Dal (Secular) on April 30.
Arrest warrant against Prajwal Revanna
On Saturday, an arrest warrant was issued against Prajwal Revanna in connection with the April 28 FIR.
The warrant came on a plea by a Special Investigation Team probing the allegations against the MP, reported The News Minute. The Congress government in Karnataka had formed the team on April 27, a day after the videos of the alleged sexual assault emerged.
On May 1, the Special Investigation Team issued notices to HD Revanna and Prajwal Revanna, summoning them to appear before it for questioning. Following this, the Hassan MP had sought seven days to appear before the team.
“As I am not in Bangalore to attend the enquiry, I have communicated to CID [Crime Investigation Department] Bangalore through my advocate,” Prajwal Revanna had said in a social media post on May 1. “Truth will prevail soon.”
The notice came on the same day that Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the cancellation of Prajwal Revanna’s diplomatic passport.
With an arrest warrant having been issued, the Special Investigation Team is now also likely to seek the cancellation of Prajwal Revanna’s diplomatic passport, forcing him to return to India, according to The News Minute.
New audio clip
Meanwhile, a new audio clip related to the sexual abuse allegations has emerged.
In the clip, Congress leader and former MP LR Shivarame Gowda can be purportedly heard telling Bharatiya Janata Party leader G Devaraje Gowda to distribute pen drives containing videos of the alleged sexual abuse by Prajwal Revanna, reported The Hindu.
Shivarame Gowda purportedly told Devaraje Gowda to “distribute the pen drives and pass on the blame for it on former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy as a case of the latter wanting to promote his son”.
Kumaraswamy is the brother of HD Revanna and uncle of Prajwal Revanna.
Devaraje Gowda had earlier claimed that he was in possession of several videos showing the purported sexual abuse against several women by Prajwal Revanna. He had written to BJP state president BY Vijayendra on December 8 cautioning the party against fielding Prajwal Revanna in the polls, reported The News Minute.
After the videos surfaced on April 26, Devaraje Gowda claimed that the Congress had leaked them.
On Friday, he doubled down on his allegations and claimed that Congress leader and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar offered him Rs 100 crore to implicate Kumaraswamy of circulating the videos of the alleged sexual abuse, reported The New Indian Express.
“Shivakumar forced me to target Kumaraswamy as the mastermind behind the distribution of pen drives,” alleged Devaraje Gowda. “Shivakumar threatened me that you will be safe only if you target Kumaraswamy in the pen drive case.”
On May 11, the Karnataka Police arrested Devaraje Gowda in connection with a sexual assault case filed against him on April 1 at the Holenarsipur town in Hassan district.
Also read: ‘We are living in perpetual fear’: Prajwal Revanna video leaks spark panic among women in Hassan
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