SIT Charges Prajwal and HD Revanna with Sexual Assault and Harassment
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Karnataka’s Crime Investigation Department (CID) has filed a 2,144-page chargesheet against former Janata Dal Secular (JDS) MP Prajwal Revanna and his father HD Revanna, relating to four cases of sexual assault and harassment.
This is the first chargesheet filed in connection to the four cases, and it was presented before the special court for elected representatives in Bengaluru. The SIT has charged Prajwal Revanna with the rape of a domestic worker employed by the family, while HD Revanna faces charges of sexual harassment.
According to the chargesheet, HD Revanna is accused number one and is charged under Sections 354 and 354(A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which relate to assault or criminal force on a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty and sexual harassment. Prajwal Revanna is accused number two, facing more severe charges under Sections 376, 376(2)(k) (rape by a person in a position of control), 354, 354(A), 354(B) (assault or use of criminal force to disrobe a woman) and other IPC sections.
The investigation includes testimony from over 130 witnesses and forensic evidence confirming Prajwal’s involvement in the sexual assault, based on a video clip. The chargesheet states that HD Revanna repeatedly harassed the victim between 2019 and 2022, and Prajwal Revanna raped her in 2020 when she was brought to the city by Prajwal’s mother to clean their house.
The charges against the Revannas surfaced after over 2,900 videos of sexual assaults were circulated online. On April 28, an FIR was registered against the father-son duo under multiple sections of the IPC at the Holenarasipura police station in Hassan district. One of the victims filed the complaint that triggered the case, which is being probed by a SIT led by senior IPS officer BK Singh.
After the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka on April 26, Prajwal Revanna fled to Germany but was arrested upon his return to India on May 31. He has since been in judicial custody, with SIT custody extended multiple times as investigations progressed. HD Revanna, who was granted bail in May in the cases of kidnapping and sexual assault, had his bail order stayed by the Karnataka High Court.
(With inputs from agency)
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