The Supreme Court on Monday, November 11, denied bail to rape-accused former Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna. Prajwal had approached the Supreme Court after he was denied bail by the Karnataka High Court on October 21. The former JD(S) MP is accused of rape and sexual assault by multiple women. A bench of Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma heard the case.
Prajwal, now suspended from the JD(S) and grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda is accused of sexually assaulting three women and videographing sexual acts with more than 70 women. He is said to have made nearly 3,000 videos of such acts and some of the videos were circulated in Karnataka’s Hassan district in the days leading up to the election for the Hassan MP seat.
Five women have so far come forward with allegations against Prajwal. Among the first to file complaints were Girija and her daughter Sunitha (names changed), who alleged that Prajwal raped Girija and coerced Sunitha to undress during a video call. A former JD(S) party worker and public official also accused Prajwal of sexually assaulting her at his official residence in Hassan.
Another complainant, a 47-year-old woman who had worked at the family’s farmhouse six years ago, made similar accusations. The SIT probing the case has filed three chargesheets against Prajwal. According to one chargesheet, DNA recovered from a survivor’s saree could serve as critical evidence. In two cases, forensic analysis of video footage linked Prajwal to the acts, although in a third case, the video evidence was too brief for a conclusive identification.
Another woman alleged that Prajwal molested her when she approached him for assistance with a personal issue; a chargesheet has yet to be filed in this case.
Read the evidence trail in the Prajwal Revanna sexual assault case
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.