Federation of People’s Movements of Karnataka State protests against Prajwal Revanna sexual abuse case on May 30

On May 30, the Federation of People’s Movements of Karnataka State will hold a protest rally in Hassan Town in Karnataka. This protest rally is being organised by the federation which includes organisations of women, dalits, farmers, minorities, underdeveloped communities, sexual minorities, scientific movements, students and youth movements to condemn the sexual abuse case of Prajwal Revanna, the MP from Hassan. The decision to hold the protest rally titled ‘Hassanadedege Namma Nadige (For Hassan, we march in protest)” was adopted at a meeting of the Federation on May 18, 2024.

What is the Prajwal Revanna sexual abuse case about?

Electronic devices such as pen drives and CDs had become publicly available on April 21, ahead of the assembly election in Hassan on April 26. They suggested that Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna had allegedly sexually harassed several women in Hassan and recorded the assaults on his mobile phone camera. It is to be noted that as many as 2,900 files containing videos and pictures of the MP’s sexual encounters were found on the leaked pen drives. The SIT had also set up a helpline to report assaults by the MP. A total of three cases of sexual harassment by three women have been reported against Prajwal Revanna so far.

On May 13, JD(S) leader and Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly (MLA) HD Revanna was granted bail by a Bengaluru court. The bail was granted by a special court in connection with a kidnapping case linked to allegations of sexual abuse against him and his son Prajwal. The said MP spent seven days in jail after being in police custody for four days. While granting bail, Judge Santhosh Gajanana Bhat laid down conditions requiring the accused to furnish a bail of Rs 500,000 along with two sureties. Further, HD Revanna was restrained from leaving the country, entering KR Nagar in Mysuru district and contacting the witnesses. He was also asked to cooperate in the SIT investigation.

A special court had issued an arrest warrant against Prajwal on May 18. So far, three FIRs have been filed against him in cases related to alleged sexual abuse. On May 27, fugitive Prajwal Revanna had released a video in which he stated that he would appear before the SIT on May 31 and would “fully cooperate with the investigation”. He had also hinted that he had fallen into “depression and isolation” after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other senior politicians spoke about his sexual abuse videos.

Topics highlighted at the association meeting:

Protecting the dignity of victims: The press release raised the issue of protecting the women sexually exploited by Prajwal Revanna. The videos of sexual abuse recorded by Prajwal Revanna without his consent were made public through pen drives and social media, resulting in a violation of the privacy and dignity of the abused women. The association states that attempts have been made to show the said content to the children, families, relatives and acquaintances of the victims and that such attempts may continue in the future.

The association stressed this and called for measures to mitigate the severity of the situation. In addition, the organization called on the government to take measures to find all videos and photos related to the Hassan scandal on the Internet and destroy all sources.

Cancellation of Prajwal Revanna’s diplomatic passport: The organisations also stated that the Union government has still not cancelled the ‘diplomatic passport’ issued to Prajwal Revanna and has not even responded to the state government’s letter seeking help in his arrest. On this basis, the organisations urged the government to take prompt and concrete steps to cancel the ‘diplomatic passport’ issued to Prajwal Revanna.

The politicization of the issue trivializes the seriousness of the crime: Besides the Union government’s failure to take appropriate steps to arrest Prajwal Revanna, the press release pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other JDS and BJP leaders are exerting pressure to demand handover of the case to the CBI with a clear intention to derail the investigation. Moreover, the organisations noted that the Congress party’s involvement in the mudslinging has also diminished the severity of the scandal. The organisations also stressed on the SIT’s duty to directly reach out to the victims of sexual abuse and reassure them by providing them with adequate protection.

You can read the complete press release here:

Related:

Prajwal Revanna sexual assault case: Court issues arrest warrant against Revanna, JD(S) denounces political conspiracy

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NDA candidate Prajwal Revanna is accused of sexually exploiting and filming thousands of women

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