In the early hours of May 31, at around 1.15 am, Prajwal Revanna, Janata Dal (Secular) leader and MP from Hassan who has been accused of sexually abusing and exploiting multiple women, was finally arrest at the Bengaluru airport. As per media reports, Revanna was taken to the CID office in Bengaluru following his return to India from Berlin, Germany, nearly a month after leaving the country on a diplomatic passport. Revanna had left for Germany last month, on April 26, hours after polling for the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections were concluded in Hassan constituency,
The Karnataka government had formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on April 27 to investigate allegations against Prajwal after nearly 3,000 explicit videos allegedly involving him appeared on social media. The SIT has filed a case against five people including Prajwal’s father HD Revanna. HD Revanna remains out on conditional bail. Notably, on May 19, a special court for MPs and MLAs in Bengaluru had issued an arrest warrant against Revanna. The Interpol had also issued a ‘Blue Corner Notice’ to find out where he was after a request from the SIT through the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). At present, a total of three cases of sexual assault have been registered by three women against Prajwal Revanna.
As per a report of Hindustan Times, the members of the SIT probing the sexual assault case had sent an all-women police team to camp out at the airport the entire night and then arrest Revanna. Upon his arrival in India, the SIT team confiscated two of his check-in baggage and took him into custody.
#WATCH | ‘Obscene videos’ case | JD(S) suspended MP Prajwal Revanna brought to the CID office in Bengaluru. pic.twitter.com/ZVnkJoNEnK
— ANI (@ANI) May 30, 2024
Multiple media report has suggested that once the accused is presented before the special magistrate within 24 hours of his arrest, the SIT is planning to subject the politician to a potency test. As per the report of Indian Express, voice samples and other attributes, including DNA, are likely to be collected, according to sources.
It is also essential to note that the SIT has also issued a notice to Prajwal’s mother Bhavani Revanna for questioning on June 1. According to the news agency, Revanna’s mother is not an accused in the case but SIT might probe her role. Her anticipatory bail will also be coming up for hearing today in the special court along with Prajwal Revanna’s anticipatory bail plea.
Brief background of the case:
Electronic devices like pen drives and CDs had emerged in the public domain on April 21, ahead of the April 26 Hassan parliament poll, which had suggested that Prajwal Revanna, the Hassan MP, had allegedly carried out sexual assaults on several women in Hassan and recorded the attacks on his phone camera. It is to be noted that as many as 2,900 files with videos and images of the sexual encounters of the MP were found in the pen drives that were leaked. A helpline had also been set up by the SIT to report incidents of attack by the MP.
The first FIR was registered against Revanna on April 28 after a woman who worked in his household filed a complaint of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation against him. The MP, who is seeking re-election from Hassan, had said in a video message earlier this week that he would present himself before the SIT at 10 am on Friday, May 31.
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NDA candidate Prajwal Revanna accused of sexually exploiting and videotaping thousands of women