Prajwal Revanna sentenced to life imprisonment in Karnataka rape case. Here's what he said in court

The former MP and Janata Dal (Secular) leader, Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of former Indian PM H D Deve Gowda, was sentenced to life imprisonment in one of the rape cases filed against him in the Holenarasipura Rural Police Station in the Indian state of Karnataka. Moreover, the court also imposed a penalty of ₹1 million on him. The court said that the victim will be given a compensation of ₹7 lakh. The special court announced the judgement on Saturday (August 2) against the Hassan MP, just a day after he was proven guilty for sexually assaulting his house help.

However, Revanna pleaded in the court and claimed that he did nothing wrong. He said that his fast growth in politics was his “only mistake” that led him to his conviction in the rape case. Revanna reportedly broke down in the court when the judgment was announced and said that the women who complained against him were "purposefully" brought forward by the prosecution, and did not volunteer to do so.

"They say that I have raped multiple women, but none of the women have come out voluntarily to complain; they came six days before the election (Lok Sabha polls last year)...the prosecution side brought them purposefully and made them give a complaint," the convicted MP said, PTI reported.

“Please give me a less sentence is what I request the court," he pleaded in court. He said that he has not met his family, his parents, for six months now.

What’s the case - and how many?

There are a total of four cases against Revanna that contain charges of rape and sexual assault. On August 1, he was convicted in the case in which a 48-year-old woman, who was employed as house help at his family's Gannikada farmhouse in Karnataka's Hassan, alleged that she was raped twice in 2021, and the act was filmed by the accused Revanna.

Revanna, after being convicted, claimed that the woman complained only when some videos were circulated, and that she did not raise alarm about the alleged rape to even her husband or kin.