NDA candidate Prajwal Revanna accused of sexually exploiting and videotaping thousands of women

As Karnataka’s Hassan was about to go for polls, videos depicting the constituency’s  current MP Prajwal Revanna allegedly sexually assaulting women spread like wildfire across the state. As the videos continued to circulate, a day later the sitting MP Revanna left from India to go all the way to Germany. Speculation is rife about how the state and union governments “allowed” this hasty and quick departure.

 The grandson of JDS chief and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, reportedly left for Germany after voting took place in his constituency on April 26. His father HD Revanna, who is a MLA for the Holenarasipur constituency, has also been accused in the case of sexual harassment after a former house cook of their filed a complaint. 

Almost 30,000 explicit videos were allegedly made and shot by the MP which were also circulated widely in Revanna’s constituency Hassan in Karnataka.  Several of these videos, as per Hindustan Times, also recorded incidents of sexual assault. As India’s Lok Sabha elections continue, the incident has now received international media attention. Outrage has peaked on social media as this regime’s record of insensitivity on gender crimes reached a peak with this incident.

The news of the alleged crime has sent shockwaves across the nation. News reports have even reported that a 47 year old domestic worker employed by the family as a cook was sexually assaulted, and has written in her complaint at the Holenarasipur police station that the employees would always be scared of the father and son, “When I joined, six other maids would say they were scared of Prajwal. The male employees, too, would ask us to be wary of H D Revanna and his son Prajwal.” She has also claimed that her daughter too was assaulted. For reporting the assault, she has stated that her and her family’s life is under threat right now. 

Furthermore, what is shocking is that it is also reported that BJP Leader Amit Shah knew of these allegations because Karnataka BJP leader Devaraje Gowda has claimed that he wrote to the senior BJP leader that the party should not associate with the Revanna family in December 2023.   Police has thus far lodged a case against Revanna and his father on charges of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation. The Karnataka Women’s Commission has also taken note of the incident and the of commission, chief Nagalakshmi Chaudhary has written to the police chief to take action against the culprits. The commission also reportedly recommended the state government to take action after which the SIT (Special Investigation Team) has reportedly formed to investigate the case.  

The letter to Amit Shah being circulated on social media may be read here:

How did Prajwal Revanna escape to Germany?

Prajwal Revanna is part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) after last September when the Janata Dal (Secular) allied with the BJP. It was also reported by India Today that in June 2023, Revanna had sought a gag order against media houses to not publish sexually explicit videos of him. As of now, Revanna has reportedly left the country to Frankfurt, Germany immediately a day after voting took place in his constituency on April 27. This raises the question: how did Revanna manage to travel abroad, did he receive special assistance?

Meanwhile, in what seems to be a confirmation, Prajwal’s father H D Revanna has said that the videos are 4-5 years old, of which a ‘conspiracy’ is being made, “I know what kind of conspiracy is going on. I am not someone who’ll get scared and run away. They have released something that was 4-5 years old. Expelling him from the party is left to the party high command.” He also denied claims that Prajwal left the country due to the allegations, and said that he did not know of any FIR as he already had plans to go abroad.  

Revanna himself has so far denied allegations  and has filed a complaint claiming that the videos being circulated are doctored. But both BJP and JD(S) have distanced themselves from Revanna. JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy has stated that he would like to wait for all the facts to come out before taking a judgement on Prajwal, who is also his nephew. Kumaraswamy also claimed that he had nothing to do with his nephew’s swift departure from the country the minute the allegations went public. Interestingly, Kumaraswamy has also claimed that this is a “family issue”, “It’s an issue of the Revanna family, we have nothing to do with it, they are four living separately.”

He also stated, “It is not related to me. SIT probe has been ordered, officials have been put to work. If he has gone to a foreign country, getting him back is their responsibility. What should I say, if I’m asked. They (SIT) will get him, don’t worry.” 

Amit Shah, India’s union home minister has asked what the Congress was doing for many years when the incidents took place, “BJP’s stand is clear that we stand with the ‘Matr Shakti’ of the country. I want to ask Congress, whose government is there? The government is of the Congress Party. Why have they not taken any action till now? We do not have to take action on this as this is a law and order issue of the state, the state government has to take action on it. We are in favour of the investigation and our partner JD(S) has also announced to take action against it. Today there is a meeting of their core committee and steps will be taken.”

Meanwhile, the All India Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba has called on CM Siddaramaiah to write to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to call on Germany to extradite Prajwal, “We need to see if the MEA will act or keep quiet.” Lamba has also claimed that when Amit Shah recently visited Mysore in March or February, senior party leaders such BJP MLA Preetham Gowda, ex-MLA A T Ramaswamy and district leaders asked the party not to let Prajwal contest. However, the candidate at Hassan was once against Prajwal. 

According to India Today, the senior leader of the JD(S) H D Kumaraswamy also said that he was confident “their” candidate would win from Hassan, “ As far as the election is concerned, we have first-hand information that our candidate will win. Everybody is saying that.”

What does this mean for the hundreds of women who suffered the assaults? Will the JD(S) will actually take any action against Revanna and suspend the accused from the party and ensure that justice is meted out to the victims legally? Or will he also be forgotten, deliberately and become another Brij Bhushan?

This is not the first time a leader associated with the NDA or the BJP has been accused of heinous sexual assault related crimes. BJP MP from Kaiserganj, Brij Bhushan Singh is also somebody who has been accused of grave sexual crimes, including assaulting minors. Wrestlers protested for justice to be brought against him for almost a year however, their protests were to no avail and the courts are yet to frame charges against him either. Similarly, Kuldeep Singh Sengar who was finally convicted in 2019 for raping a 17 year old girl in 2018 was also from BJP. He is also suspected of killing her father and criminal intimidation. There was a huge public outcry against Sengar, who reportedly also tried to kill the victim and her family multiple times during the case. He was suspended by the party, who shared the news with the public in 2019 after there was mounting pressure on the party to share its stance. 

Similarly, recently The Wire reported that a BJP MLA was yet to be disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh assembly despite being served a sentence of 25 years for rape.  The MLA Ramdalur Gond was convicted in December 2023 for a case of raping of a minor that took place in 2014, yet was still continuing to serve his term as MLA.

Ankita Tiwari assaulted and murdered in Uttarakhand

The most recent and one of the most harrowing cases is from Uttarakhand, where the young and bright 19 year old Ankita Bhandari was murdered in 2022. The resort where she worked was reportedly owned by Pulkit Arya, the son of a senior RSS and former BJP leader Vinod Arya.

 The murder ignited widespread outrage, leading to protests across the state. The parents of the victim also led the protests for days, hoping to find justice for their daughter. However, what is worse is that the case saw great obstruction of justice, where Ankita’s parents were shuffled from one police station to another when they tried to file an FIR. Pulkit Arya had reportedly already informed the police about Ankita being missing earlier. What is even more alarming is that MLA of the area, Renu Bisht from the BJP bulldozed the resort after Ankita’s death.  A JCB driver told the courts that he was not just called once but twice to demolish the resort. The second time he reached, Bisht was present at the resort, giving instructions. Pulkit Arya and his two associates have reportedly confessed to the police during interrogation. 

The parents, as recently as April 2024, continue to ask for justice, including action against BJP MLA Renu Bisht for allegedly destroying evidence and also against SDM Pramod Kumar. The family has also demanded action against BJP Secretary  Ajay Kumar, who is said to be the VIP for whom Pulkit Arya reportedly tried to force Ankita to provide “special services” in exchange for money.  

Uttar Pradesh: Rapes and murders

Before that in Uttar Pradesh, first the Unnao gang rapes and killings of Dalit women and then Hathras are blots on BJP’s record. February 17, 2021 a horrific news of three Dalit girls tied up in a field and allegedly poisoned was reported from Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh. While two were found dead, one is battling for her life. The doctor has reportedly said that the girl’s survival rate is low because there seems to be considerable brain damage.

Unnao is also infamous for its 2017 gang rape of a 17-year-old minor which led to the conviction and life imprisonment of the former BJP member Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was also held responsible for the (judicial) custodial death of the survivor’s father. Her relatives met with similar fate and died in a mysterious car accident.

A 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras, (2020) named four upper caste ‘Thakur’ men in her dying declaration after she was raped and strangled to death. The barbarism continued when the Uttar Pradesh Police first, delayed immediate medical attention and eventually denied that she had been raped.

In August, 2020, Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh reported the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl who was strangled and left to perish in a sugarcane field. This was followed by a 17-year-old Dalit girl who was raped and killed while returning home after filling a scholarship form at a cyber cafe. Days later, in September, a three-year-old child was raped and murdered in the fields due to family enmity with another family in the same district, which acquired a lot of media attention.  

It seems Prajwal Revanna is another name in the list of harrowing incidents and crimes associated with the party. With this list of past examples, it is crucial to see what the NDA and the respective parties will do with Prajwal Revanna and his candidature. 

Related:

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