Prajwal Revanna and the politics of language in reporting rape

Former Janta Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna has been in the news for the past few weeks after thousands of videos surfaced in late April showing him committing sexual assaults. Revanna is accused of raping several women and recording these assaults to blackmail his victims. At least fifty of the victims have been identified so far and there are four initial reports against him.

After the videos were released, the politician accused of rape fled the country, but returned almost a month later and is currently being investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT). The case has received widespread public attention and extensive media coverage. However, the language used in many of these reports is highly questionable.

Most of these media outlets, both print and broadcast, reporting on Revanna’s crimes and the ongoing investigations are calling it an “obscene video” case, a “sex video” case, a “sex scandal” or some variation thereof. Only a handful of media outlets have correctly labeled the case as a rape/sexual abuse case and mentioned that the videos depict sexual abuse, rather than calling them “sex videos.”

The use of such language not only completely misrepresents the facts, but also has the effect of trivialising his crimes and greatly downplaying the extent of his abuses of power in the public perception.

Eradication of sexual violence

Headlines should ideally be direct and clear. They should allow the reader to get relevant information about the content of the story. That is why it is important to have multiple shots of sexual assault as “Sex Videos’ is inappropriate because it grossly misrepresents actual events.

TNM reported that some news channels covering the case played portions of these videos with sensual music. While this type of sensationalist reporting is not the norm for most news coverage, the coverage by most major publications and broadcasters was damaging. Such coverage helps Revanna portray his crimes as being limited to just involuntary video recording by omitting discussions of sexual violence.

Obscene Videos or Sex Videos do not tell the viewer or reader whether the videos mentioned are consensual sex or sexual assault, as this wording does not indicate that sexual violence took place. Furthermore, this language paints a narrative in which the videos alone are the crux of the problem, rather than the sexual assaults that Revanna committed against numerous women over several years and the horrific abuses of power that were involved.

By misrepresenting his crimes and using softer language in reporting, his crimes are whitewashed in the public perception and the true extent of his abuses and the impact on his victims are downplayed. Many victims had to leave their homes fearing ostracism and reprisals after their identities were revealed when the recordings were circulated publicly. Some of them even left the district. The fourth complainant has outlined the social cost to her and her family in her FIR against the former MP.

Patriarchal notions of victim blaming always aim to shift the blame onto the victims of sexual violence. Women are routinely held accountable for the crimes committed against them and the responsibility for preventing violence is shifted onto them. So the media using such language will only lead to further stigmatization of victims, because labeling sexual abuse as sex implies consent and presents the matter as if sexual acts were recorded, as opposed to the reality that Revanna raped women and recorded these assaults in order to blackmail them.

Whether the wording is intentional or not, it is still harmful. This shows that Indian media is not using the right vocabulary when reporting on sexual violence against women. Media reports on sexual violence often have glaring inadequacies; the use of the passive voice, sexist and problematic images of rape, and sensationalist and salacious reporting have long been a problem in media reporting. The pervasive use of inaccurate and trivializing language in the Revanna case shows the urgent need for more informed and sensitive reporting and the importance of not dismissing this as mere semantics.

Revanna’s privileges influence reporting

Prajwal Revanna and his family wield enormous political power and influence. This is evident from the initial media reaction to the videos. TNM reported that even though these videos had surfaced in Hassan on election day, the local media that spoke to Prajwal Revanna in the morning asked him only innocuous questions about his campaign and the elections and completely avoided any questions about the serious rape allegations against him and the circulation of the videos.

Prajwal Revanna is not only a JD(S) leader and former MP from Hassan, but also the scion of a powerful political dynasty. He is the grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, the nephew of Union Minister and former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and the son of Karnataka MP HD Revanna.

Moreover, the proximity of the JD(S) to the BJP as an alliance partner of the latter only consolidates Prajwal Revanna’s political power. Local BJP leader Deveraje Gowda claims that he wrote to the Karnataka BJP chief informing him about the allegations against Revanna and the possible existence of these recordings, just months before the NDA announced Prajwal Revanna’s candidature for the Lok Sabha elections.

Because of his political power and privilege, Revanna was able to commit crimes with impunity for years and suppress any public discussion about the videos through a news blackout.

In June 2023, Revanna managed to obtain a news gag order in a Bengaluru civil court against 86 media outlets and three individuals who made the footage public. Many in Hassan and the surrounding area reportedly knew of the existence of these videos, even if they were unaware of the extent of the abuse. The fact that Prajwal Revanna was able to keep this secret for over a year, despite publicly alluding to its existence when obtaining the news gag order, speaks to his enormous privilege. It is therefore a fair question whether this influence influences how media reports on his crimes.

ANI, one of India’s largest news agencies, continues to use the term “obscene videos” in all reports on Revanna and his crimes, even after being criticised for it on social media. ANI’s report on Prajwal Revanna being produced before a special court calls the case obscene video case and mentions that he has been accused of “sexual harassment” and “criminal intimidation” in an obvious attempt to downplay his crimes.

Only at the very end of the article is it mentioned that the “obscene videos” in question depict sexual assault. In the media’s story of the BJP distancing itself from the case, the sexual crimes committed by Revanna are not mentioned directly even once. The videos are instead referred to as “sleaze videos”.

The callous reporting of Prajwal Revanna’s crimes, whether influenced by his political privileges or unintentionally, serves to shape public perception in his favour by twisting the facts of the case and the gruesome nature of his assaults. The media plays a significant role in shaping public perceptions and therefore has a responsibility not only to report facts but to do so accurately and sensitively.

Responsible reporting also means responsibility towards the victims. Prajwal Revanna’s enormous influence in Hassan because of his family name, combined with misogyny, makes the victims likely targets for stigmatization, exclusion and perhaps even persecution. The media must ensure that it does not spread narratives that have even the slightest possibility of making people blame the victims or shame them for the violence they were subjected to.

Prajwal Revanna will undoubtedly use his socio-economic and political privileges as a weapon to evade accountability and justice. To what extent he succeeds in doing so remains to be seen. But the least the media, as the fourth pillar of democracy, can do is hold him accountable in the court of public opinion by reporting on his crimes without trivialising them.