Prajwal Revanna sexual abuse case: Suspended JD(S) leader sent to SIT custody till June 10

News from Karnataka: The People’s Representative Court has sent suspended Janata Dal (secular party) leader Prajwal Revanna to Special Investigation Team (SIT) police custody till June 10.

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections on April 26, numerous explicit videos circulated online showing women being sexually harassed, allegedly by Prajwal Revanna.

Shortly after the election, Prajwal Revanna left India and remained in hiding in Germany for over a month.

The Karnataka government took cognizance of the cases and formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which arrested him on May 31, immediately after he landed at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru.

Police also arrested his father and Holenarasipura MP HD Revanna on suspicion of kidnapping a woman who was seen in one of the explicit videos in which she was allegedly sexually assaulted by Prajwal.

HD Revanna was later released after a court granted him bail. His wife and Prajwal’s mother Bhavani Revanna is a fugitive in the same kidnapping case.

Shreyas Patel, 31, contested against HD Revanna in the Holenarasipura assembly elections last year but lost by 3,152 votes.

Prajwal Revanna, who is accused of sexually abusing several women, lost the Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday by 42,549 votes to Shreyas M. Patel of the Congress.

33-year-old Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of former Prime Minister and JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda, was the only JD(S) to win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka.

According to results announced by the Election Commission of India on Tuesday, the BJP won 17 seats in Karnataka, while its ally JD(S) won only two seats.

The Congress’s performance in the state it governs has improved, increasing from one seat in 2019 to nine seats in 2024.

Congress won the most controversial seat of Hassan after sitting MP Prajwal Revanna was charged in an obscene video case. Revanna lost the seat to Shreyas M Patel of Congress by a margin of 42,649 votes.

The 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka were held in the second and third phases on 26 April and 7 May respectively.