Bengaluru, Aug 2 (PTI) Four years after the occurrence of the crime and a year after it came to light, suspended JD(S) leader and former MP Prajwal Revanna was on Saturday sentenced to prison term for the remainder of his life, while the court slapped an overall fine of Rs 11.50 lakh on him, directing that Rs 11.25 lakh of it be paid to the victim woman, a domestic help to the family of the accused.
The Special Court here has punished and imposed fines on the convicted politician under various sections of the IPC.
A court had on Friday convicted the 34-year-old grandson of former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda in one of the four sexual abuse and rape cases against him.
The Special Court for MPs/MLAs Judge Santosh Gajanan Bhat pronounced the verdict on Saturday, after convicting Revanna a day earlier.
The case pertains to a 48-year-old woman who was working as a help at the family’s Gannikada farmhouse in Hassan district’s Holenarasipura. She was allegedly raped twice — at Hassan farm house and Bengaluru residence– in 2021 and the act recorded by the accused on his mobile phone.
Revanna was booked under sections 376(2)(k) (being in a position of control or dominance over a woman, commits rape on such woman), 376 (2)(n) (repeated rape on the same woman), 354A (sexual harassment), 354B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 354C (voyeurism), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 201 (disappearance of evidence) of the IPC, and Section 66E (violation of privacy) of the IT Act, by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) which probed the case.
The court sentenced Prajwal Revanna to imprisonment for life and imposed Rs 5 lakh as fine, under section 376(2)(k), and imprisonment for life which shall mean remainder of natural life along with Rs 5 lakh fine under section 376(2)(n).
He has been also sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for three years and Rs 25,000 fine under section 354A, rigorous imprisonment for 7 years and Rs 50,000 fine under section 354B, rigorous imprisonment for 3 years and Rs 25,000 fine under section 354C.
A two year RI has also been given to Revanna, with a fine of Rs 10,000 under section 506, imprisonment of 3 yrs and fine of Rs 25,000 under section 201, and imprisonment of 3 yrs and fine of Rs 25,000 under section 66 E of IT Act.
Special public prosecutor Ashok Nayak told reporters that considering the rape incidents had happened when the convict was a Member of Parliament, the court, taking into account the seriousness of the offence, has given the maximum punishment.
“The court has sentenced Prajwal Revanna to life imprisonment, and as per law, he should be in prison for the full life. The prosecution had invoked various sections, and for all sections, the court has sentenced separate punishments and fines. On the whole, the fine amount is Rs 11,50,000, and a major share of it, Rs 11,25,000, should be given to the victim as per the court order,” he said.
Four separate cases have been registered against Revanna, who is facing charges of rape and sexual harassment, and a Special Investigation Team SIT) was tasked with probing the cases.
The matter came to light after pen-drives containing explicit videos allegedly involving Revanna were reportedly circulated in Hassan, ahead of Lok Sabha polls there on April 26, 2024. He had made a successive bid from the constituency but lost. PTI KSU SA
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