JD(S) leaders HD Revanna and son Prajwal misused the power they wielded to sexually abuse and silence many women, says the SIT charge sheets.
Published Sep 13, 2024 | 9:13 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 13, 2024 | 9:13 AM
HD Revanna and Prajwal Revanna. (HDRevannaofficial/Facebook)
Janata Dal (Secular) leader, former minister and MLA HD Revanna, and his son, former Lok Sabha MP from Hassan had sexually assaulted several women employed as maids in their house, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Karnataka police said.
The SIT made the revelation in separate charge sheets submitted to the Special Court of Electoral Representatives. The probe team filed the first charge sheet, running into 2,144 pages, against Revanna, 66, and Prajwal, 34, on 23 August, while the 1,632-page second charge sheet was submitted on 9 September.
Holenarsipura Town police registered the case pertaining to the first charge sheet on 28 April 2024, while SIT recorded the second case on 8 May. The second one, filed on charges of rape, mentioned 113 witnesses.
Besides rape, Prajwal has been booked for sexually assaulting several women and filming the acts. The video clips were circulated on social media and visual media, He also faces charges of destroying evidence from his mobile phone, used for recording the videos.
Prajwal has been in judicial custody since his arrest on 31 May. After the videos started circulating, Prajwal left the country after casting his vote in the Lok Sabha election on 26 April but was arrested from the Bengaluru International Airport on his return.
Meanwhile, Revanna has been accused of sexually harassing an assistant cook at his residence. The survivor, who was hired on a contract basis from the Holenarsipura’s Backward Classes Post-Metric Women’s Hostel on the recommendation of Revanna and his wife Bhavani Revanna, claimed she was made to work as a domestic worker at the MLA’s residence from 2019 to 2022.
In 2020, Revanna allegedly began calling the woman to his room while his wife was away, assuring her that he meant no harm.
“The JD(S) MLA reportedly used the pretext of distributing fruits to domestic workers to bring them to a storeroom on the first floor of his Holenarsipura residence,” the charge sheet said.
After distributing fruits to others, Revanna allegedly made the survivor wait before giving her share. Meanwhile, he sexually assaulted her. He has been booked under Sections 354 and 354(A) of the Indian Penal Code, pertaining to assault or criminal force to a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty, and sexual harassment.
Prajwal blackmailed the women he had harassed for further sexual favours. In 2020, when the survivor (witness-1) was working in the first-floor hall of his house at Holenarsipura, the younger Revanna sexually harassed her when no other workers were present. He allegedly sexually harassed her over the phone as well.
The same year, Prajwal took several workers, including the woman (witness-1) to Basavanagudi in Bengaluru to clean his house. While the woman was cleaning a bedroom on the west side of the first floor, the accused locked the room and demanded an oil massage. He allegedly threatened to kill her if she did not heed his demand.
Ignoring the woman’s pleas and attempts to escape, he sexually assaulted her. He recorded the act on the mobile phone. Prajwal also threatened to jail her husband if she disclosed the incident to anyone, the charge sheet said.
The woman was also reportedly told that her daughter, too, would meet the same fate, and he could not be touched since he was a parliamentarian. Prajwal later lost the polls to Shreyas M Patel of the Congress.
Prajwal has been charged under multiple sections of the IPC and the Information Technology (IT) Act. He has been mainly booked under the following IPC’s section 376(2)(k) — rape by a person in a position of control or dominance over a woman, Section 354(A) — sexual harassment, Section 354(B) — assault or use of criminal force with intent to disrobe a woman, Section 354(C) — voyeurism, Section 506 — criminal intimidation, Section 376(2) — repeated rape of the same woman, Section 201 — causing disappearance of evidence, and Section 66E of the IT Act (violation of privacy).
Police said Prajwal did not spare the survivor’s daughter. While the younger woman was staying with her mother, the former MP allegedly contacted her over a WhatsApp video call and forced her to undress on camera. When refused, she was threatened that he would tell her mother and husband that she was in a relationship with him, and was made to undress.
He took the screenshots without her knowledge. The images were later leaked on social and electronic media, the investigators said in the charge sheet.
“Accused Prajwal Revanna, with the malicious intention of sexually exploiting and sexually assaulting the victim and her daughter, without the knowledge of the victims, without their consent, recorded the video and took photos,” the charge sheet said.
“The photos and videos were captured on his mobile phone itself. He also sexually harassed several other women including the aforementioned victims. He filmed it all on his mobile phone, which was being used at that time.”
“As this information spread among the people of his constituency, he fled abroad and destroyed the mobile evidence on purpose. This has been proved during the probe. Hence, he has booked under various sections of the IPC and IT act,” the charge sheet alleged.
In another case, Prajwal sexually assaulted maid, 10 years his senior, employed at his brother and MLC Suraj Revanna’s Gannikoda farmhouse at Mulekalenahalli village in Holenarsipura in 2021.
The SIT’s second charge sheet revealed that the accused not only sexually assaulted her at the farmhouse but also took her to his father HD Revanna’s house in Bengaluru, and physically harassed her numerous times.
Suraj employed the survivor and her husband as domestic workers in 2018, and the couple was residing in the farmhouse. Prajwal frequented the farmhouse, and in 2021, he asked the woman on the first floor for water. When she brought him water, he allegedly locked the room and raped her. The act was recorded on his mobile phone.
The woman was harassed again when she was taken on work at Revanna’s house in Bengaluru. Prajwal allegedly threatened to show the video of the rape to her son if she disclosed the incident to anyone else.
In another instance, she escaped Prajwal’s bid to harass her again at the farmhouse, She kept mum fearing for the reputation of her family. The charge sheet said Prajwal committed the offences when was the MP.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
