The Special Investigation Team probing the sexual abuse case allegedly by Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna has issued a warning for stringent action against the circulation of explicit videos of the case. The SIT has warned that not only those who distribute the videos but also those who possess them would face legal action.
Prajwal Revanna is the grandson of former PM HD Deve Gowda, and he reportedly left the country after multiple women accused him of sexual assault and filming it. The videos, with unblurred faces of the women, were then circulated widely, allegedly by Prajwal’s political opponents. It is estimated that the number of clips runs up to 3,000 with unblurred footage of over 70 women including JD(S) party workers, wives of JD(S) workers, public servants, media persons, and many others. Some women have come forward to complain against him, with one complaint stating that he had used the video to blackmail her.
Many Instagram handles have uploaded screenshots from the videos, celebrating the women as ‘trophies’, ignoring the visuals of assault. Screenshots of the videos and purported links to downloading the videos have been posted on several social media platforms.
A press release by the SIT said “As per the Information Technology Act, 2000, "originator" means a person who sends, generates, stores or transmits any electronic message or causes any electronic message to be sent, generated, stored or transmitted to any other person but does not include an intermediary.
“As per this definition, storing of videos, images and audio clips also attract criminal action under the law, so the public is aware of this to avoid any storage or transmitting of such videos, images and audio clips. Therefore it is advised to the general public to delete the video/audio/photos of victims of sexual crimes from their devices to avoid legal action,” the SIT said in a press release.
Our coverage of this case can be accessed here.