‘I’m happy Prajwal is arrested, punish him for his evil deeds’: Survivor tells TNM

Sunita (name changed) has been confined to a house in Bengaluru with her mother with 24/7 police protection for weeks. She fell ill a couple of days ago and had to be taken to hospital due to low blood pressure. As one of the few women among the 70 allegedly videographed by Prajwal Revanna to come forward and file a complaint, Sunita is crucial to the police investigation. She told The News Minute on the morning of May 31 that she felt relieved following Prajwal Revanna’s arrest.“He should not be granted bail at any cost and should be punished for all the anachara (evil deeds) he has done. Not just Prajwal but his father HD Revanna and mother Bhavani should also be put behind bars. None of them should get bail,” the young woman told TNM. Prajwal is behind bars, but Sunita has a lot more to be worried about..Sunita’s mother Girija (name changed) had filed a complaint at the Holenarsipura Town police station on April 28 accusing JD(S) leader and Holenarsipura MLA HD Revanna and his son Prajwal of sexually assaulting her and her daughter. A relative of Bhavani, Girija worked as a domestic worker in the Revanna household. She alleged that both men sexually harassed the women under various pretexts. Sunita and Girija were both in the videos; while the mother could be seen pleading with the man filming the video, the daughter was made to strip over a video call. Sunita told TNM that the police must protect them now that Prajwal was back. “When we go back to our lives, my children will go to school… What if they (Prajwal and others) do something to us? We want the police to give us protection,” she said. Sunita and her two children along with Girija have been in a safe house in Bengaluru for weeks, ever since the Special Investigation Team took over their case. They are not allowed to step out. They desperately want to go home, but don’t have a house to return to. Girija was first brought to work in the Revanna residence in Holenarsipura in 2018 and then taken to Bengaluru. The mother and daughter remained unaware that the other had been assaulted till the videos emerged. The mother-daughter duo had told TNM that a house allocated to Girija by the local government body had been taken away by Bhavani and given to another family. What happened to Girija and SunitaOne day, while Bhavani was out, Revanna allegedly molested Girija under the pretext of giving her fruit. Although he distributed fruit to everyone in an open area, he insisted that she come into a room inside the house. “Anna, give me the fruit outside; if Akka (Bhavani) comes, she will misunderstand,” she told him. Girija was compelled to accompany Bhavani whenever she travelled to Bengaluru. On one such occasion, while Bhavani was out shopping, Prajwal allegedly raped Girija. She and another woman were cleaning rooms in the house. “I didn’t even know when he came into the room and locked the door,” she recounted. She remembered that he had his phone in his hand but had no idea he was recording the assault.“He said he is an MP and that if I didn’t comply, he would fire my husband and me, and also rape my daughter,” Girija said.In 2020, Prajwal allegedly threatened Sunita and forced her to strip on a video call and threatened her with dire consequences if she did not comply. She was also later sexually assaulted.Sunita told TNM that it was she who told her mother that they have to speak up and cannot live in fear forever. Prajwal had fled to Frankfurt in Germany from Bengaluru on the night of April 26, after voting was completed in his constituency of Hassan, and was absconding. He was arrested in the early hours of May 31 soon after he arrived at the Bengaluru airport.A day before Prajwal’s arrest, thousands had gathered in Hassan for a protest march organised under the banner of the Federation of Karnataka State People’s Movements, demanding his arrest. Sunita said that she was happy with the support from so many people but also worried about where she and her family will go if they do not have a house. “The DC should get those people to leave our house so that we can go back,” she told TNM. Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team has decided that Prajwal should not receive any privileges. They are escorting him only in their Bolero vehicles – their old fleet, instead of the MPVs (Innovas). He has been lodged in a simple jail cell, though Prajwal demanded a better cell citing his privileges as a Member of Parliament. The police have also ensured that only women officers will escort him in order to send a message to the public and survivors that no one is not scared of Prajwal Revanna and the police stand with the survivors..The News Minute has followed the Prajwal Revanna story relentlessly, beyond the news cycle. You can contribute to our reporting fund to empower our reporters..TNM has been continuously reporting on this case, speaking to survivors and others affected to, explore the the profound societal impact of the sexual abuse videos. Our coverage can be accessed here.

‘I’m happy Prajwal is arrested, punish him for his evil deeds’: Survivor tells TNM

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