Court gives Prajwal Revanna life term in rape case

ABengaluru margaret court on sabbatum sentenced former Janata Dal (Secular) MP and grandson of former ground government minister HD Deve Gowda, Prajwal Revanna, to lifetime imprisonment in a rape case.The Special Court for MPs/MLAs on Friday convicted Prajwal of raping a 48-year-old woman who was employed as a domestic worker at his family’s Hassan farmhouse. Prajwal has been booked in two more cases of rape and one of sexual harassment.The rulings in these cases are awaited.The court also fined him ₹11.50 lakh, and said ₹11.25 lakh out of it will be paid to the victim, people aware of the matter said. “The court has sentenced Prajwal Revanna to life imprisonment. The prosecution had invoked various stringent sections, and for all sections, the court has sentenced separate punishments and fines,” special public prosecutor Ashok Nayak said. A detailed court order on the sentencing was awaited.The complainant alleged that Prajwal raped her twice between 2021 and 2024 and recorded the assault on his phone. She lodged an FIR on April 28 last year, days after obscene videos allegedly showing Prajwal sexually abusing several women surfaced in the middle of the Lok Sabha elections. He fled to Germany the same month and was arrested on May 31, 2024, after his arrival. Prajwal, who was the NDA candidate from the Hassan seat, lost the election.“Our argument focused on the atrocities committed by a powerful man on an innocent woman and the social stigma she had to endure,” additional special public prosecutor Ashok Nayak said.Prajwal’s counsel, advocate Arun G, said they will challenge the order in the high court. People present in the courtroom said Prajwal broke down during the hearing on Saturday and said that the cases against him were politically motivated.“The only mistake I made in my life is growing fast in politics. They say that I have raped multiple women, but none of the women have come out voluntarily to complain. )...the prosecution side brought them purposefully and made them file a complaint,” news agency PTI quoted him as saying.According to the agency, Prajwal told the court that he was a “BE mechanical graduate and always passed on merit” as he urged the judge to give him a lesser sentence. “I have a family; I have not seen my mother and father for six months now...please give me a lesser sentence,” he was quoted as saying.His counsel, senior advocate Nalina Mayegowda, urged the court to be lenient with him, saying that “he has been involved in various charitable activities for years” and the proceedings had caused “irreparable damage to his reputation.”The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which probed the case, had filed a 1,632-page charge sheet with 113 witnesses in the case in September 2024.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.Officials part of the SIT said they were hopeful of getting stringent punishment in the other cases also.“We are very positive about other cases as well. More or less all the cases were investigated on the same lines. The visuals which emerged and the way the victims were treated, raped and sexually harassed everything was more or less on similar lines,” senior IPS officer Suman D Pennekar said.Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar questioned the “silence” of leaders from JD(S) and its alliance partner BJP on the sentencing.“If we (Congress) speak on the issue, it will be seen as politics. Let JD(S) state president [HD Kumaraswamy], national president (HD Deve Gowda), youth president (Nikhil Kumaraswamy), BJP president (BY Vijayendra), opposition leader (R Ashoka) and central ministers—all of them should comment on this. Why are they not commenting?” he said.Union minister and senior BJP leader Pralhad Joshi said the court would have given the verdict considering all aspects, and it should be respected.“Everyone should accept the court order. We had said when the allegations came to light that, if the wrong was committed, punishment would happen in accordance with the law after investigation and trial,” he said.(With PTI inputs)