Bengaluru: Prajwal Revanna, the 33-year-old MP from Hassan, landed at Bengaluru international airport from Munich, Germany, at around 1 am Friday morning and was taken into custody by the Special Investigation Team (SIT).
Wearing a gray sweatshirt, Prajwal walked casually alongside members of the SIT and airport security personnel as they exited Terminal 2. The area was crowded with local police and TV media cameras, following images of his flight ticket going viral Wednesday.
Prajwal was taken to the SIT office seated in-between women police officials and in a secure convoy from the airport.
Prajwal, the lone Lok Sabha MP of the Janata Dal (Secular) from Hassan, fled India hours after end of polling on 26 April after videos of his alleged sexual assault started to do the rounds online.
Hours before Prajwal’s flight landed, the Ministry of External Affairs initiated the process to cancel his diplomatic passport. He is expected to be produced before the Magistrate in the Special Court of People’s Representatives today.
Prajwal is the grandson of former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda and the son of former minister H.D. Revanna, who, along with his brother and two-time chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, constitute one of the most powerful and influential political families in the state and country.
Prajwal, in a video statement released Tuesday, claimed that he will appear in person before the SIT at 10 am Friday morning in Bengaluru.
It was unclear if Prajwal was taken directly to the SIT office in central Bengaluru or if he was taken for a medical check-up, as is the official procedure in such cases.
At least three cases of rape have been filed against Prajwal with the SIT formed to probe the cases of assault. Prajwal filed for anticipatory bail and the same is likely to be heard Friday.
It is estimated that there are around 3,000 videos, allegedly filmed by the MP, showing the women he exploited. These women include government officials, party workers, household help, and workers at the family farm, among others.
The Congress has since dubbed this as the “world’s biggest sex scandal” with Rahul Gandhi calling Prajwal a “mass rapist” & claiming that the Hassan MP has sexually assaulted “400 women”.
The BJP has remained tight-lipped about the developments, as Prajwal is the JD(S) alliance candidate in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Meanwhile, H.D. Kumaraswamy has turned spokesperson for the BJP, defending the PM and adding that the decision to field Prajwal was that of the JD(S). And while he has not attempted to defend Prajwal directly, he has sought to shift the focus onto those who released the videos without blurring the faces of the women.
Also read: Lack of evidence, not enough proof he shielded son Prajwal – court order granting H.D. Revanna bail
‘Depression & isolation’
The Siddaramaiah-led state government has asked the Centre to issue a blue-corner notice against Prajwal and asked the latter to bring him back.
A Blue Corner Notice is issued by the Interpol to collect additional information from its member countries about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a crime.
An arrest warrant against Prajwal was also issued.
Prajwal had Tuesday shared a video statement in which he did not disclose his location but said that he will appear in person before the SIT on Friday at 10 am.
In the 2:20-minute video, Prajwal says in Kannada that he was not aware of the allegations, nor that there was a case filed against him when he left the country.
He said that his travel abroad was “pre-planned”.
“When elections happened on 26 (April), that day there was no instance or case against me, SIT also was not formed. Going abroad on 26 was also pre-planned,” he said in the video.
The video was circulated on social media and ThePrint could not independently verify its authenticity.
In it, Prajwal also said that he knew that there was a political conspiracy against him. “After seeing all this, I went into depression and isolation. That’s why I first seek forgiveness from you all. After that, in Hassan as well, some powers got together and hatched a political conspiracy against me. Because I am growing in politics and they want to bring me down…. When I saw all this, I was further disturbed and stayed away. So, I don’t want anyone to feel wrongly about this,” he said.
Prajwal has missed several summonses from the SIT, like his father, who refused to appear before the SIT and was subsequently arrested on 4 May. He was released on bail 10 days later. Revanna’s wife, Bhavani, too, has applied for anticipatory bail, which will be heard on the same day as her son’s case Friday.
‘Hassan Chalo’
Academics, activists, and community members gathered in Hassan Thursday to protest against the H.D. Deve Gowda’s family, accusing them of perpetuating caste discrimination, committing sexual assault, abusing power, and engaging in various other crimes in the district for decades.
The ‘Hassan Chalo’ protests were also part of the efforts to pressure the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government to do more in the case and show support for the victims to come forward and register cases.
“There are some people who believe they are the kings of Hassan. By misusing power, money and political influence they thought they could do anything. But we have gathered here in Maharaja Park to say that this is not some king’s park but a place where people are demanding justice,” Subhashini Ali, prominent women’s rights worker and former MP, said.
Many others demanded answers from both Siddaramaiah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allowing Prajwal to flee and not arresting the MP when in the country.
A few days before Hassan went to the polls on 26 April, pen drives, loaded with obscene videos were dropped off at places frequented by the public, including in bus stops, shops and other places inside the district, about 180 km from Bengaluru.
Police officials say that pen drives were used since sharing videos on social media can be traced back to the source.
A first information report (FIR) was filed on 28 April in Holenarsipura, the bastion of Prajwal’s family in Hassan, on the complaint of a former house help who accused the MP of molestation. On the same day, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah announced the formation of an SIT to probe the case. On 1 May, a JD(S) worker came forward, accusing Prajwal of raping her by threatening her of dire consequences.
On 2 May, a 20-year-old filed a case of kidnapping and criminal intimidation against Prajwal’s father, Revanna.
The young man’s mother was kidnapped and videos of her begging Prajwal to spare her went viral on social media. In his complaint, the 20-year-old described how his friends and family had detailed the video and the possible reasons why his mother was kidnapped.
The woman later escaped from where she was being held on the pretext that the police were looking for her in a case of ‘bogus voting’. After she was found, she too filed a case of rape.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Also read: Prajwal Revanna case shows why and how sexual crimes by men in politics can go unchecked for years