The third chargesheet, accessed by South First, concerns Prajwal Revanna's case with Holenarasipura Town Police. Revanna, arrested on 31 May, 2024, has been in judicial custody since his return to Bengaluru.
Published Sep 18, 2024 | 12:05 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 18, 2024 | 12:05 AM
Prajwal Revanna
Karnataka’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) has revealed in its third chargesheet, that former MP Prajwal Revanna, 34, allegedly subjected a former JD(S) Zilla Panchayat member to sexual assault for three consecutive years in the Hassan district.
The SIT has filed a third charge sheet consisting of 1,691 pages, including testimonies from 120 witnesses and submitted it to the Special Court for Elected Representatives, following a complaint by the JD(S)’s former Zila Panchayat member on 13 September, 2024.
Following this development, the SIT has now filed chargesheets in three out of the four sexual assault cases involving accused Prajwal Revanna.
SIT had filed the first charge sheet, running into 2,144 pages, against MLA HD Revanna, 66, and his son Prajwal Revanna, 34, on 23 August, while the 1,632-page second charge sheet was submitted on 9 September, 2024.
The third chargesheet, which was accessed by South First, is pertaining to the case registered against Prajwal Revanna before the Holenarasipura Town Police Station and Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Accused Prajwal Revanna has been under judicial custody since 31 May, 2024. He was arrested on his arrival from abroad at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru.
In a startling revelation, accused Prajwal Revanna reportedly raped his own party’s woman leader, the then Zilla Panchayat member, at his official residence in Hassan in 2020.
At the time of the incident, the accused, Prajwal Revanna, who was then the MP of the Hassan Lok Sabha segment (2019-2024), was using the MP Quarters, which had been allotted to JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, as his official residence in Hassan.
In this case, the survivor was representing one of the Zilla Panchayat segments in the Hassan district between 2016 and 2021. She was also a member of the JD(S).
Between January and February 2020, the survivor, a ZP member, met the accused, Prajwal Revanna, to request hostel seats for some of her constituency’s students in the BCM Hostel at the MP Quarters in Hassan.
During the meeting, everyone who had come to meet the accused left the office, leaving the survivor alone in his official residence. When no one else was around, the accused grabbed the survivor’s hands and dragged her into a room.
Once inside the room, the accused not only misbehaved with her but also threatened her, stating that he had a gun and would kill her husband if she did not undress immediately.
Despite the woman pleading for him to let her go, the accused allegedly sexually assaulted her. He also recorded a video, insisting that the survivor keep a smile on her face throughout the entire ordeal.
Accused Prajwal Revanna repeatedly threatened and blackmailed a JD(S) Zilla Panchayat member with videos of his sexual assault to coerce her into further sexual abuse.
Just two days after the initial assault at his official residence, the accused telephoned the woman and informed her that the video recorded two days ago had not been deleted.
“If you do not come to the MP Quarters in five minutes, I will leak the video. It is only your face that is visible and not mine in the video,” Prajwal threatened the JD(S) party worker to sexually assault her again.
Fearing the accused, the JD(S) party worker rushed to the MP Quarters. The accused raped her again at his official residence. He also threatened that he would harm her husband if she did not answer his WhatsApp video calls and act according to his directions.
After a fortnight, the accused began frequently making WhatsApp video calls to the former JD(S) ZP member. Upon learning that no one was in her house, he would demand that she undress completely, pestering her to keep a smile on her face.
Without the survivor’s consent or knowledge, the accused took screenshots and recorded these video calls. He used phone numbers registered under his social media staff to make these calls.
The accused had a habit of taking screenshots during the video calls, discreetly hiding his identity, with only his eyes visible on the screen. He would insist that his victims wear lingerie according to his preferences.
Prajwal Revanna sexually assaulted the woman, who was a ZP member, for three consecutive years from 2020 to 2023, claimed the chargesheet.
In yet another assault on the then JD(S) ZP member, the accused invited the woman to his father and MLA, HD Revanna’s, residence in Holenarasipura.
Upon her arrival, he sexually assaulted her and recorded the act. He once again threatened to release the video and harm her family, if she disclosed the incident to anyone.
On 3 October, 2022, the accused participated in the Dasara Utsav at Belur in Hassan, where the survivor and her husband were also present as guests, along with other local elected members.
After the event, between 9:15 pm and 10:54 pm, the accused telephoned her 12 times, threatening her to immediately come to his MP Quarters.
Fearing that he would harm her family, she rushed to the quarters. After sending all his staff outside, he sexually assaulted her once again.
It has been revealed that the accused frequently raped the former JD(S) ZP member between January-February 2020 and December 2023.
Prajwal has been charged under multiple sections of the IPC and the Information Technology (IT) Act. He has been 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).
(Edited by Ananya Rao)
