(Trigger warning: Sexual abuse, violence against women. Reader discretion advised.)
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Saturday evening arrested Janata Dal (Secular) MLA and former state minister H D Revanna after the court denied him relief from arrest. He was taken in custody from the residence of his father, JD(S) president and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, in Bengaluru. The arrest took place hours after his lawyer appeared in court seeking anticipatory bail, which was rejected.
The Karnataka police had booked Revanna in a kidnapping case on Thursday, 2 May, after a 20-year-old man filed a police complaint, claiming that Revanna's associate allegedly abducted his mother, who was one of the victims in Prajwal Revanna's alleged sexual harassment case.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) accessed by The Quint, the complainant accused one Sathish Babanna of taking his mother away "forcibly" and keeping her in an "unknown location" at the behest of HD Revanna.
The police has registered a case against HD Revanna and Babanna under sections 364A (kidnapping for ransom), 365 (kidnapping with intent to secretly and wrongfully to confine person) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
This came hours after HD Revanna filed an anticipatory bail petition in the sexual abuse case involving him and his and Hassan MP Prajwal. However, on Friday, 3 May, the JD(S) MLA withdrew his application, Deccan Herald reported.
At present, police teams are making efforts to track down the 'kidnapped woman,' The Hindu reported.
The Prajwal Revanna sexual abuse case has led to a political storm in Karnataka with a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing into the incident. Multiple reports said that the Karnataka police filed a rape case against Prajwal on Thursday, 2 May.
'Friends Told Me About Videos...': Survivor's Son in Complaint
According to the FIR, the incident took place on 29 April. The woman, whose age was not mentioned in the complaint, was an ex-employee at HD Revanna's residence and farmhouse in Holenarasipura for over six years.
However, three years ago, she quit and returned to her native town to work as a daily-wage labourer, the complainant, a resident of KR Nagar in Mysuru district, said.
A few days before the first phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka on 26 April, Satish Babanna, who is known to the family, came to the woman's residence and told her that HD Revanna’s wife Bhavani wanted her to come there for some work.
"Babanna told my family that we should not speak to the police if they visited our residence. He threatened us that we will be booked in a case and told us to alert him if the police came by... At 9 pm on 29 April, Satish Babanna came to our house when my mother was home and said she would face a case if she was caught by the police, she will have to go in jail. He told my mother that Revanna Saheb told him to come and take her."The woman's son said in the FIR
Later, in the FIR, the complainant said that on 1 May, two of his relatives called him on the phone and told him there was a video of his mother being allegedly sexually assaulted by Prajwal Revanna and that "it was a huge case."
“While I was looking for my mother, on May 1, a couple of my friends asked about my mother featured in the alleged sex tapes of Prajwal [Revanna]. I called Satish over the phone to check the whereabouts of my mother, but he brought up an old altercation between Prajwal and others in which a photo had come up showing my mother with a stick. He told me that now, I had to get her out on bail, the woman’s son said in the FIR.
"I don’t know where my mother was taken. I fear for her life. I request you to take action under the law and find my mother," the complainant said.
Speaking to The Indian Express, a police official said that the police had not yet traced the missing women yet. "There has been information that some of the victims featured in Prajwal Revanna’s sex tape have been approached…may be to prevent them from filing cases,” the official said, as quoted by IE.
The Quint reached out to multiple police officials in the KR Nagara police station in Mysuru, but the calls were left answered. This story will be updated as and when they respond.
SIT Issues Lookout Circular Against Prajwal Revanna
Meanwhile, the SIT probing the allegations of sexual abuse against JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna issued a lookout circular on 2 May after he failed to appear before its officials following a notice of appearance served on Tuesday, 30 April.
On 1 May, Prajwal, who is said to be in Germany at present, sought seven days to appear before the SIT. HD Revanna, meanwhile, skipped the summons to appear before the SIT for questioning.
"As I am not in Bangalore to attend the enquiry, I have communicated to C.I.D Bangalore through my Advocate. Truth will prevail soon," he wrote on a post on 'X'.
Pen drives containing explicit videos of women being sexually abused and coerced into sex are being circulated in Hassan, and they allegedly contain visuals of Prajwal. The JD(S) also suspended Prajwal from the party in light of the allegations and said he will remain suspended until the SIT submits its report.
Both Prajwal Revanna and his father H D Revanna were booked under Sections 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 509 (outraging the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In the first FIR accessed by The Quint, the survivor, an employee at Revanna's house, alleged:
"After four months of joining, Revanna kept calling me to his room. There were six women workers in the house and everyone said that they were scared when Prajwal Revanna came home. The male workers in the house also alerted the women workers to be careful... Whenever [HD] Revanna's wife wasn't there, he used to call the women to the storeroom and touch them while giving them fruits. He used to remove saree pins and used to sexually assault women."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the JD(S) MP travelled to Germany on a diplomatic passport, and that he did not seek political clearance for the trip.
"No political clearance was either sought from or issued by MEA in respect of the travel of the said MP to Germany," said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)