On May 30, a protest will be held by the Federation of Karnataka State People’s Movements in Hassan Town of Karnataka. This protest is being organised by the Federation which involves organisations pertaining to women, Dalits, farmers, minorities, backward communities, sexual minorities, scientific movements, student and youth movements to condemn the Prajwal Revanna sexual abuse case, the siting MP from Hassan. The decision to carry out the protest, which is titled “Hassanadedege Namma Nadige (To Hassan, We March in Protest)”, was taken at a meeting of the Federation on May 18, 2024.
What is the Prajwal Revanna sexual abuse 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. At present, a total of three cases of sexual assault have been registered by three women against Prajwal Revanna.
On May 13, JD(S) leader and Karnataka Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) HD Revanna was granted conditional bail by Bengaluru court. The said bail was granted by the Special court in connection with a kidnapping case linked to sexual abuse allegation against him and his son Prajwal. The said MLA had spent after seven days in jail after four-day police custody. While granting bail, Judge Santhosh Gajanana Bhat had imposed conditions that required the accused to furnish a bond for Rs 5 lakh, along with two sureties. In addition to this, H D Revanna has been barred from leaving the country, entering KR Nagar in Mysuru district, and interacting with the witnesses. He has also been asked to cooperate with the SIT investigation.
A special court on May 18 had issued an arrest warrant against Prajwal. Notably, till now, three FIRs had been filed against him in cases related to alleged sexual abuse. On May 27, absconding Prajwal Revanna had released a video stating that he will be appearing before the SIT on May 31 and will “fully cooperate in the investigation”. He had also suggested that he went into “depression and isolation” after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders spoke about his sexual abuse videos.
Issues highlighted in the meeting of the Federation:
Protecting the dignity of the victims: In the press release, the issue of protecting the women who have been sexually exploited by Prajwal Revanna was raised. The videos of the sexual abuse, which had been non-consensually recorded by Prajwal Revanna, were circulated among the public through pen drives and social-media which have resulted in the violation of the privacy and dignity of the abused women. The Federation states that attempts were being made to show the said content to the children, families, relatives and acquaintances of the victims and such attempts could continue in the future as well.
Highlighting the same, the Federation had discussed and called for taking of such steps that mitigate the severity of this situation. Additionally, the organisation asked for the government to take measures to find all the videos and photographs related to the Hassan scandal anywhere on the internet and to destroy all the sources of the same.
Cancellation of ‘Diplomatic Passport’ of Prajwal Revanna: The organisations also provided that the union government is yet to cancel the ‘Diplomatic Passport’ issued to Prajwal Revanna, and has not even responded to the letter written by state government seeking help with his arrest. Based on this, the organisations demanded for the government to take quick and concrete steps towards cancellation of the ‘Diplomatic Passport’ granted to Prajwal Revanna.
Politicisation of the issue taking away the severity of the crime: In addition to the union government failing to take appropriate steps to arrest Prajwal Revanna, the press release pointed to the pressure being Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, along with other JDS and BJP leaders in demanding a handover of the case CBI with the clear intension to derail the investigation. Furthermore, the organisations also noted that the Congress party’s involvement in the mudslinging has also hampered the seriousness of the scandal. the organisations also emphasised upon the SIT’s duty to contact the directly and reassure the victims of sexual abuse by providing them appropriate protection.
The complete press release can be read here:
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