Prajwal Revanna to appear before the SIT on May 31

Bengaluru: Exactly one month after leaving the country, Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, who is accused of sexually abusing several women, has announced that he will appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the allegations against him on May 31.

He described the allegations against him as “false” and part of a “political conspiracy” and said he had fallen into depression.

“I will personally appear before the SIT on Friday, May 31 at 10 am and cooperate in the investigation and also respond to the charges. I have faith in the judiciary and am confident that I will get out of false charges in court,” Pajwal said in a video statement that has now been widely shared.

There was no immediate independent confirmation on the matter from the JD(S) or the family of the suspended party MP.

“May God’s blessings be upon me, the people and my family. I will definitely appear before the SIT on Friday, May 31. After that, I will try to put an end to this whole thing. Keep trusting me,” he added in his video message in Kannada.

Prajwal apologized to his parents, grandfather Deve Gowda, uncle HD Kumaraswamy, people of the state and party workers and said, “I have come to you to share information as I have not informed you where I am abroad.”

Prajwal pointed out that he had asked for a week’s time through his account ‘X’ and his lawyers to respond to the SIT notice. “Despite this extension, Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, started discussing things (about me) in public meetings the very next day,” he said.

“You indulged in a political conspiracy. When I saw all this, I fell into depression and isolation. So first I asked for your apology and forgiveness,” he said.

The MP claimed that a political conspiracy was hatched against him by some forces in his Hassan constituency too, saying, “When I gained political popularity, they all joined forces to belittle me. When I saw all this, I was shocked and I kept a little quiet. So no one should confuse me with that.”

Prajwal (33), the grandson of JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda and NDA candidate for the Lok Sabha constituency of Hassan, is accused of sexually abusing women.

He reportedly left for Germany on April 27, a day after Hassan voted, and is still at large. Interpol has already issued a Blue Corner Notice seeking information on his whereabouts after the SIT made a request through the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

A special court for elected representatives issued an arrest warrant against Prajwal Revanna on May 18 on the request of the SIT.

The Congress-led Karnataka government asked the central government to cancel his diplomatic passport, although it said there was no official communication from the Union government on the matter so far.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has served a notice to Prajwal asking him why his diplomatic passport should not be cancelled, as demanded by the Karnataka government, in light of the allegations of sexual abuse against him.

The election took place on April 26, at which time there was no case pending against him and the SIT had not yet been formed, he said. “My trip abroad on April 26 was also planned earlier. So I left three or four days later… when I was watching YouTube, a news channel, I came to know about the developments at home. After that, the SIT also issued a notice.”

The scandal triggered a political storm that led to a slugfest between the ruling Congress party and the BJP-JD(S).

While the Congress government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the cases, BJP and JD(S), the NDA’s partners, are demanding that the documents be handed over to the CBI and action be taken against those responsible for circulating the explicit videos.

The sexual abuse cases came to light after several USB sticks allegedly containing explicit videos featuring Prajwal were circulated in Hassan ahead of the April 26 Lok Sabha elections.

Deve Gowda had recently issued a “stern warning” to Prajwal Revanna, asking him to return to the country and face the investigation into the sexual abuse allegations, while assuring that neither he nor other family members would interfere in the investigation.

The JD(S) leader reiterated that his grandson should receive the harshest punishment provided for by the law “if convicted”.

Kumaraswamy had also repeatedly asked his nephew Prajwal to return to the country and face the investigation.

JD(S) suspended Prajwal from the party after investigations against him came to light.