Bengaluru: A Special Court for Elected Representatives here on Thursday adjourned to May 13 the bail plea hearing of JD(S) MLA H D Revanna in connection with a kidnap case.
The 66-year-old former Minister was arrested by the SIT in an alleged case of abduction of a woman and remanded to police custody till May 8.
The abduction case is linked to the allegations of sexual abuse of women by Revanna’s son and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna.
After the completion of police custody, Revanna was on Wednesday produced before an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. The court remanded him to judicial custody till May 14.
The case was registered following a complaint by the woman’s son, who alleged that his mother was sexually abused by Revanna’s son Prajwal.
The SIT has also secured the custody of Revanna’s confidant Sathish Babanna.
The woman was allegedly abducted to prevent her from testifying against Prajwal, police sources said.
Explicit videos of sexual abuse of several women by Prajwal had been doing the rounds on social media based on which the state government formed the SIT on April 28 to probe the case after the Karnataka State Commission for Women wrote a letter to the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Prajwal (33), who was the NDA candidate in the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, reportedly left the country on April 27, a day after the elections, and skipped the SIT summons to appear before it.
According to Home Minister G Parameshwara, one more person was arrested in this case.
No victim coming forward: NCW
Meanwhile, no victim has come forward to register a complaint against Karnataka MP Prajwal Revanna, and one woman complainant who reached out to the women’s body alleged that she was forced to register a fake complaint against the JD(S) leader, the NCW said on Thursday.
The timely submission of the Action Taken Report (ATR) by the concerned authorities reveal several significant findings, the National Commission for Women (NCW) added.
It said a Special Investigation Team (SIT) committee has been formed to probe the matter thoroughly. Notably, there is a commendable presence of female officers entrusted with conducting investigations and ensuring sensitivity and empathy in handling such cases, it added.
According to the NCW, the ATR indicated the registration of two cases based on the complaints of sexual abuse by the victims, alongside an additional complaint filed for abduction by a relative. However, no victim has come forward to register a complaint with the commission in this case, it said.
“One woman complainant came to the commission to register a complaint against three individuals dressed in civil uniform, allegedly introducing themselves as Karnataka Police officials and forcing her to give a false complaint in this case,” the NCW claimed.
“She stated that she is being called by random phone numbers threatening her to complaint. It has come to light that this complainant was forced by a group of individuals to file a complaint, under the threat of potential harassment and false implications. The victim has sought protection for her family’s welfare, underscoring the seriousness of the situation,” it said.
In a separate development, the NCW said, it has been noted that the 700 women who submitted online complaints are affiliated with a social activist group and have no direct involvement or association with the primary complainant in the case.
“NCW would like to state that 700 women have not given any complaints to NCW regarding Prajwal Revanna case. Some media channels are falsely reporting this,” the commission said in a post.
The police booked Prajwal Revanna and his father JD(S) MLA and former minister H D Revanna for sexual harassment and criminal intimidation based on a complaint from a woman, who worked in their household.
Prajwal (33) is the BJP-JD(S) alliance candidate for the Hassan Lok Sabha seat which went to polls on April 26.
