Hassan: In the rape case filed against suspended Janata Dal (Secular) leader Prajwal Revanna earlier this week, a JD(S) woman worker has alleged that the absconding candidate from Hassan Lok Sabha seat threatened and repeatedly assaulted her sexually for over three years.
In a statement recorded over a period of two days, the woman worker has claimed that she was subjected to sexual abuse by Prajwal several times between 1 January 2021 and 25 April this year. She has accused him of rape, criminal intimidation and video taping the assault to threaten her and her family over the course of three years.
The complainant, a member of the local Zila Panchayat, said she had to interact with elected representatives to seek funds for various developmental works. In her complaint, she said she tried to meet Prajwal to secure seats for young girls in the state-run Backward Classes and Minorities hostel, but was asked by the accused to meet him the next day.
“The next day, to meet him, I went to the MP quarters in Hassan. He was on the ground floor with many people. The officials (MP’s staff) asked me to go up to the first floor and told me that there were other women waiting there. When Prajwal came up, he spoke to the women waiting before me,” she said.
“Finally, when I was the only one left, he called me into his room and as I entered, he pulled my hand and locked the door behind him. When I asked him why he closed the door, he said nothing will happen and made me sit on the bed. He then told me that my husband, Dileep, was a little loud (aggressive) and asked me to tell him to speak less, or else he wouldn’t spare him,” read the woman’s statement.
According to the statement, Prajwal then told her that he was miffed about his mother losing out on the MLA ticket in the 2023 assembly polls because of the woman’s husband, and asked her to do as told if she wanted her husband to do well politically.
“He asked me to lie on the bed and take off my clothes. When I told him I wouldn’t, he forced me. When I said I would scream, he threatened me saying he had a gun and wouldn’t spare me and my husband. He then tried to rape me,” alleged the woman.
“He warned me not to scream and then took out his mobile phone. Out of fear I acted as he said.”
The JD(S) worker also accused Prajwal of recording her and threatening to make the videos public, if she ever said a word about the incident. He then went on to allegedly blackmail and coerce her to engage with him sexually on several occasions.
Prajwal Revanna, the 33-year-old MP from Hassan in Karnataka, is the grandson of former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, and son of JD(S) MLA and former minister H.D. Revanna. He is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate for the Hassan Lok Sabha seat in the ongoing general election.
He fled the country shortly after Hassan went to the polls on 26 April, and after obscene videos, allegedly of him sexually exploiting women, surfaced in the district and on social media. He is currently in Germany, as confirmed by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
The JD(S) has cried foul, claiming that senior Congress leaders conspired to undermine Deve Gowda’s legacy and that it was a crime to release the videos without blurring the faces of the women.
The Siddaramaiah-led state government has formed a special investigation team (SIT), issued a look out notice against Prajwal, and asked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government to bring back the absconding MP to face the law.
At least three cases have been filed so far. While Prajwal has been booked for rape, his father H.D. Revanna is accused of kidnapping a woman featured in one of the video clips. They also face charges of outraging the modesty of a woman.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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