Prajval Revanna sex scandal: When over 2000 videos got leaked amid 2024 Lok Sabha polls
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File photo of former MP Prajwal Revanna being taken to hospital for medical examination under tight security. Photograph: (PTI)
The sex scandal broke out during the general elections and captured national attention. Prajwal Revanna, the accused, fled to Germany but later returned and was arrested. Murky details of his misdemeanours kept pouring out in testimonies during the trial.
Just days ahead of the voting for Lok Sabha elections on April 26, 2024, in the parliamentary constituency of Hassan, a major scandal broke out when over 2,900 explicit videos of the outgoing MP Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda in the fray to retain his seat, with multiple women got leaked. The scandal broke when pen drives containing the explicit videos began circulating in Hassan and nearby districts.
The scandal captured national attention and hogged headlines, and Prajwal, the accused, fled to Germany. Murky details kept pouring out in testimonies during the trial.
Prajwal Revanna lost the election.
He returned on May 31, 2024, and was arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) upon landing at Bengaluru Airport, as a case had been registered at the Holenarasipura Town Police Station. The SIT filed its chargesheet in August 2024.
Convicted in one of four rape cases, sentencing on Saturday
A special court in Bengaluru, on Friday, convicted Revanna on charges of rape, bringing to a close a controversial and politically charged case filed by a 47-year-old domestic worker, who accused Prajwal of repeated sexual assaults in 2021 during the COVID-19 lockdown at the family’s farmhouse in Gannikada (Hassan) and their residence in Basavanagudi, Bengaluru.
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The quantum of the sentence will be pronounced on Saturday.
Three other cases, involving different women, against him are under trial in the special court.
Driver exposed misdeeds, shared evidence
The former driver of Revanna testified in court in the sex tape case and said that he had found over 2,000 explicit pictures and 40-50 videos of women in the phone of the then Janata Dal (Secular) MP.
The driver, N. Kartik, also said in the court that he told the former MP’s mother, Bhavani Revanna, about his wayward behaviour, his physical relationships with many women, and his habit of recording their private moments on his phone. She demanded proof and was shown the photos and videos. She then told the driver not to reveal Revanna’s misdeeds to anyone else.
Prajwal’s phone contained several videos of him with party workers, domestic helps, and others.
Karthik then became the whistleblower and facilitated the initiation of multiple cases of rape and sexual harassment against Prajwal.
Four cases of rape and sexual harassment were registered by the SIT of the Karnataka Police after the explicit videos and pictures of the alleged sexual assaults by Prajwal emerged in the public domain.
Domestic help, cook filed cases
A former domestic worker at the farmhouse of the Revanna family told the court about Prajwal’s alleged assaults on her during in-camera proceedings in the special court, while another woman was rescued from a farmhouse near Mysuru, where she was allegedly kept in confinement after being identified in videos of sexual assaults recorded by Prajwal on his phone.
Prajwal is also accused in a case of sexual assault on a cook and the alleged sexual harassment of her daughter.
On Friday, after his conviction in the domestic help rape case, Prajwal broke down in the court and was seen crying while leaving the courtroom.
Revanna was elected from the Hassan Lok Sabha seat in 2019, but the 33-year-old failed to retain the constituency in the 2024 polls. JD(S) suspended him after rape cases were filed against him.
He fled to Germany after the sex scandal came to light, but his grandfather Deve Gowda warned him, telling him to return to India and surrender to the police, or face his and the family’s anger.
