Hassan, Karnataka: Absconding Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna was booked for rape while his father H.D.Revanna slapped with the charge of kidnapping in connection with the ongoing controversy over sex tapes.
According to an FIR filed at the CID police station (Bengaluru) on 2 May, the police have invoked Sections 376 (2)(n) (repeatedly raping same woman), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 354 (outraging modesty) of the IPC, as well as the IT Act against Prajwal.
ThePrint has seen the filings submitted with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court.
Prajwal fled the country shortly after Hassan went to the polls on 26 April after obscene videos, allegedly of him sexually exploiting women, surfaced in the district and on social media.
Mysuru Police has also booked Revanna and one of his associates in a case of kidnapping after one of the alleged victims of sexual abuse went missing.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has put out a look out notice for the absconding MP, while the Siddaramiah-led Congress government in Karnataka asked the Centre to cancel Prajwal’s diplomatic passport and bring him back to face the law.
“Victim gives the statement before the magistrate, so that process is on…. We are also requesting all the victims that we will give protection. Come forward and give a statement is what the SIT is requesting (sic),” Karnataka home minister G. Parameshwara told reporters in Bengaluru Friday.
He added that the process of carrying out searches by the SIT is underway. “That (kidnapping) will also be part of this entire case, and they (SIT) will take necessary action. Based on the complaints, they will take action — either to arrest or call them for a statement.”
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Kidnapping case
The Mysuru Police booked Revanna and his associate Satish Babanna after a resident of Mysuru district lodged a complaint that his mother was missing ever since Ravanna called her to his house on the night of 29 April.
The Holenarsipura MLA and his associate were booked under Sections 364A (kidnapping for ransom), 365 (kidnapping with intent to cause harm) and 34 (common intention) of IPC.
The police complaint states that the missing woman used to work at Revanna’s household but left the job in 2021 after working for six years. She had been working as a construction labour in their village in Mysuru for the last three years, it adds.
The complainant alleges that Babanna called his mother three-four days before elections, saying that Revanna’s wife Bhavani summoned her to Holenarsipura. Babanna dropped her back to the house on 26 April.
Afterwards when the sex scandal came to fore, the complainant alleges, Babanna warned his mother and him to not meet the police. “He told us if we talk to the police, a case would be registered against us and we’d be thrown in jail,” the complaint reads.
Babanna allegedly informed the complainant that the police were looking for his mother in an old case. “He told me there is a photograph of my mother standing next to Revanna with a stick in her hand, in a brawl that they were apparently involved in years ago and and an FIR had been filed in this case,” the complaint reads.
On the 29th Babanna came to their house once again and whisked the woman on his motorcycle allegedly to Holenarsipura.
The FIR states that the complainant got calls from friends and relatives, informing him that his mother is also in one of the videos going viral. “In the video, my mother’s legs had been tied with ropes, and Prajwal Revanna was raping her,” the FIR states.
The complainant further states that his mother is being held against her will and that there’s a threat to her life.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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