The Bengaluru Special Court, on Saturday, August 2, sentenced life imprisonment to former MP and suspended JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna in a sexual assault and rape case involving a 48-year-old domestic help. The court also imposed a total fine of Rs 10 lakh on him.
On Friday, the 34-year-old was convicted by the special court in one of the four sexual abuse and rape cases registered against him.
The domestic help worked as the family’s Gannikada farmhouse in Hassan district’s Holenarasipura. She was raped at Hassan farmhouse and Bengaluru residence twice in 2021, and the act was recorded by the accused on his mobile phone.
Earlier in the day, while the prosecution sought a life sentence for Revanna, the former MP sought leniency, claiming he did nothing wrong and that his only mistake was his ‘fast’ growth in politics.
‘My only mistake was…’: Revanna breaks down in court
He broke down in court as he appealed to the judge for a lesser punishment. “…they say that I have raped multiple women, but none of the women have come out voluntarily to complain, they came six days prior to election (Lok Sabha polls last year)…the prosecution side brought them purposefully and made them give a complaint,” Prajwal told the court.
Pointing out that the woman (victim) had not complained to anyone, including her husband or kin, about the alleged rape, he said that she came and gave complaint when certain videos were circulated.
Stating that he will bow down to the court’s conviction, Prajwal said, “I have a family, I have not seen my mother and father for six months now…..please give me a less sentence is what I request the court.”
“The only mistake I made in my life is growing fast in politics,” Prajwal, arrested in May last year upon his arrival from Germany, told the court.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) which probed the case had filed a 1,632-page charge sheet with 113 witnesses in the case in September, 2024.
Revanna was booked under sections 376(2)(k) (being in a position of control or dominance over a woman, commits rape on such woman), 376 (2)(n) (repeated rape on the same woman), 354A (sexual harassment), 354B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 354C (voyeurism), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 201 (disappearance of evidence) of the IPC, and Section 66E (violation of privacy) of the IT Act.
Prajwal Revanna is the grandson of former Prime Minister and JD (S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda.
About the case
The cases came to light after pen-drives containing explicit videos allegedly involving Revanna were reportedly circulated in Hassan, ahead of Lok Sabha polls there on April 26, 2024
Revanna was arrested by the SIT on May 31 last year, upon his arrival at Bengaluru Airport from Germany in connection with a case registered at the Holenarasipura Town Police Station.
Revanna had failed in his bid to retain the Hassan parliamentary constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. JD(S) suspended him from the party following the cases filed against him.
