Bengaluru Court Denies Bail to JDS Leader Prajwal Revanna in Alleged Rape Case

Bengaluru: The Special People Representative court in Karnataka’s Bengaluru rejected the bail plea of suspended Janata Dal-Secular leader Prajwal Revanna on Wednesday in connection with the ongoing investigation into an alleged rape case.

The case was based on a complaint lodged at Holenarasipura police station in Karnataka against him and his father, HD Revanna. The Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) during the bail hearing argued that IPC Section 376 (rape charges) had been added to the case, and considering the gravity of the crime, bail should not be granted.

The case, registered on April 28, involves allegations against Revanna and his father, HD Revanna, of sexual assault on their domestic help. On June 25, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Karnataka Police, which is investigating cases of sexual assault and harassment against Prajwal Revanna, registered a fourth case against him.

The fourth case has been registered under sections for sexual harassment, stalking, and criminal intimidation of a victim and recording and sharing images of the victim.

Three others, including former BJP MLA from Hassan, Preetham Gowda, have been named in the FIR. Police sources said the accused, Preetham Gowda, Kiran, and Sharath, have been alleged to have shared images that Prajwal Revanna recorded in the course of sexual harassment of a victim on a video call.

According to the complainant, the recording of the sexual harassment by Prajwal Revanna and the acts of others caused embarrassment to her whole family.

The fourth FIR has been registered under IPC sections 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking), 354B (assault or the use of criminal force), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 66 E (intentional or knowing capture, publication, or transmission of images of private areas without consent) of the Information Technology Act.

Prajwal Revanna returned to India from Germany nearly a month after leaving the country, on the night of April 26, after several obscene videos allegedly involving him surfaced on social media platforms. He was arrested on May 31 upon arrival at Bengaluru airport.