Modi ally Prajwal Revanna, accused of sexually assaulting several women on video, arrested

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An Indian MP from a key ally of Narendra Modi’s ruling party was arrested a month after fleeing to Germany. He was accused of sexually abusing several women.

Prajwal Revanna, 33, a member of parliament from Hassan in the southern state of Karnataka and scion of an influential political family, was arrested early Friday after returning from Germany.

Mr Revanna is seeking a second term as MP for his Janata Dal Secular party, which is allied with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. He is the grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, son of Karnataka MP HD Revanna and nephew of former state Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.

Just before the Hassan election on April 26, and not long after Mr Modi campaigned for Mr Revanna, thousands of videos emerged of the MP allegedly abusing women, sparking outrage across the country.

Mr Revanna dismissed the allegations as a “political conspiracy” but fled the country a day after the end of voting in his constituency.

He landed at Bengaluru airport on Friday morning on a Lufthansa flight from Munich and was arrested by a special police team investigating the allegations against him.

He will be brought before the court, where police will likely take him into custody for questioning. The Hindu reported.

In a video released earlier this week, the MP said he would return to India on May 31 to face investigation.

“I am confident that I will address these false charges in court,” he said, apologizing to his family and the people of his state.

Allegations of sexual abuse against Mr Revanna first emerged in June last year, but he obtained a court injunction banning the media from reporting on the so-called “distorted videos”.

However, five days before the election in Hassan, thousands of USB sticks containing 2,960 videos of the MP allegedly abusing women were distributed in public places such as bus stops and parks.

The videos were reportedly shot by Mr Revanna himself and show the faces of the women he allegedly abused.

One of the women filed a police complaint on April 28, accusing the MP of raping her between January 1, 2021, and April 25, 2024.

She claimed the politician threatened to release the videos of the assault if she went public with her allegations. She later said she and her husband were forced to leave Hassan after she filed a police complaint.

Since then, three other women have contacted the police with similar complaints.

Police have filed charges against the MP and his father for sexual harassment, intimidation and violation of a woman’s dignity.

The sexual abuse scandal was one of the main issues in the election campaign in Karnakata.

Modi’s party distanced itself from the controversy: “We as a party have nothing to do with the videos and have no comment to make on the SIT investigation announced by the state government into the alleged sex scandal involving Prajwal Revanna.”