Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 2: The Special Court for People’s Representatives in Bengaluru that convicted on Friday the 34-year old former Janata Dal (Secular) Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna for raping his house help, sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for remainder of his natural life, the maximum punishment under Section 376(2) of the Indian Penal Code.
The Special Court for MPs/MLAs Judge Santosh Gajanan Bhat pronounced the quantum of sentence on Saturday after convicting Revanna, in one of the four sexual abuse and rape cases registered against him. Revanna, who is the grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and nephew of Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy, had also been charged with circulating videos of the sexual assault on the 48-year-old woman. The court also imposed a total fine of Rs 10 lakh on Revanna. The court said the victim would be given a compensation of Rs 7 lakh.
The woman, who worked as a domestic help at the Revanna family’s farmhouse in Hassan district’s Holenarasipura, had alleged that she was raped repeatedly by Prajwal Revanna since 2021. He had recorded the act and threatened to release the videos if she told anyone about what he had done.
The special court for MPs/MLAs in Bengaluru had framed charges against Revanna under various sections, including rape, voyeurism, criminal intimidation, and unlawful circulation of intimate images. He had been convicted by judge Santosh Gajanan Bhat on Friday and the sentence was pronounced on Saturday.
Appearing for the survivor, Special Public Prosecutor BN Jagadish told the court she was repeatedly raped and blackmailed and even considered dying by suicide after seeing the video of her being sexually assaulted. “The sexual assault video reflects Prajwal’s sadistic mindset. He was a sitting MP, fully aware of the law, yet committed such acts. He is a habitual offender who recorded videos of multiple women. The maximum punishment must be imposed,” Mr Jagadish told the court.
“A strong message must be sent that wealth and political power do not guarantee leniency. Courts must counter the public perception that influential people get away with lighter sentences while ordinary citizens face the full brunt of the law,” he stressed.
Before the announcement of the verdict, Prajwal Revanna was given an opportunity to speak in the Court. Prajwal reportedly hinted at a conspiracy behind the case. “I have worked as a Member of Parliament for one term and did good work. Nobody accused me of rape when I was an MP. But the allegation was made just ahead of elections. My only mistake was that I grew fast in politics,” he said.
“Why did this case come out during the elections? When I was an MP, no complaints were lodged against me. They now say I committed multiple sexual assaults. Why didn’t anyone come forward then? Why did the case surface only during the election?” he asked.
Pointing out that the woman (victim) had not complained to anyone, including her husband or kin, about the alleged rape, he said that ‘she comes and gives a complaint when certain videos were circulated.’ Prajwal Revanna broke down in the Court and he reportedly also said he had been a merit student during his student days and a Mechanical Engineering graduate. He also said that it had been six months since he saw his parents and appealed for leniency.
The court sentenced him to life imprisonment under two sections of the Indian Penal Code, terms of between two and seven years under five other sections, and a term of three years under a section of the IT Act for circulating the videos. It said the survivor should be given compensation of Rs 11 lakh.
The sex scandal involving Revanna, who was the MP from Hassan Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka, had emerged a day after the seat – where he was a candidate – went to the polls on April 26 last year. Videos began doing the rounds showing multiple women being sexually assaulted. Revanna could also be seen sexually abusing women in some of them. Revanna, who left for Germany soon after the videos emerged, was later suspended by the JD(S), which contested the Lok Sabha polls in an alliance with the BJP. He lost the elections and was arrested in May last year after he returned from Germany.
Revanna is the prime accused in four criminal cases filed last year, after over 2,000 obscene video clips, allegedly depicting the sexual abuse of multiple women, surfaced on social media. The first complaint against him was lodged in April 2024 by a 48-year-old woman who had worked as a domestic help at his family’s farmhouse in Hassan.
As the case came into limelight, the survivor was allegedly abducted at the behest of Prajwal’s parents to prevent her from testifying against their son. Later, she was rescued from a farmhouse as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) swung into action to probe the case. As he faced criticism, he fled to Germany soon after the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections in Karnataka. He was arrested as he returned to India on May 31 last year. He has been in jail since then.
Prajwal Revanna comes from a prominent political family in Karnataka. His grandfather, HD Deve Gowda, is a former Prime Minister. His father, HD Revanna, is a current MLA and former minister, and his mother, Bhavani Revanna, has served on the Hassan Zila Panchayat. His uncle, HD Kumaraswamy, is currently serving as a minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, and his brother, Suraj Revanna, is an MLC.
The Janata Dal (Secular) is allied with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Karnataka. Revanna was elected to Parliament for the first time from the Hassan Lok Sabha seat in 2019. However, the 33-year-old failed in his bid to retain the constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. JD(S) suspended him from the party following the rape cases filed against him.