The former JD(S) MP from Hassan alleged political motives behind the case. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in August.
Published Sep 29, 2025 | 7:05 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 29, 2025 | 7:05 PM
Prajwal Revanna.
Synopsis: Prajwal Revanna requested the high court to quash his sentencing, saying there were delays and gaps in evidence, and that the woman had attended a function at his farmhouse three years after the alleged rape.
Former MP Prajwal Revanna has moved the Karnataka High Court challenging his conviction and life imprisonment sentence in a rape case.
The former JD(S) MP requested the quashing of the trial court’s verdict and setting aside of his conviction, arguing that the prosecution’s case was riddled with inconsistencies and procedural lapses.
The Bengaluru Additional City Civil and Sessions Court had in August, sentenced Prajwal to life imprisonment for raping a domestic worker in Holenarasipura and Banashankari.
In his petition to the high court, Prajwal highlighted gaps in evidence and delays, saying the case was politically motivated. He also pointed out that the woman had attended a function in his farmhouse three years after the alleged rape.
The victim had worked as a maid at a farmhouse owned by the Revanna family. It is claimed that from 2021, during the Covid-19 lockdown, Prajwal and his father, former minister and MLA HD Revanna, had sexually assaulted several women employed as maids in their house, the SIT of the Karnataka police said.
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 2024. After the videos started circulating, Prajwal left the country after casting his vote in the Lok Sabha election on 26 April 2024, but was arrested at the Bengaluru International Airport on his return.
According to the charge sheet, 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 allegedly 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.
