Karnataka Sex Abuse Case: Prajwals Father, JDS MLA HD Revanna Taken Into Custody By SIT

Hassan Sex Scandal: JD(S) MLA HD Revanna, whose son Prajwal is accused of sexually abusing several women, was taken into custody by SIT sleuths on Saturday, news agency PTI quoted police officials as saying. The action came minutes after a court here rejected his anticipatory bail plea in a kidnapping case. A case was filed in Mysuru against Revanna, a former Minister and son of JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, and his confidant Sathish Babanna for allegedly abducting a woman, who is also alleged to have been sexually abused by his son and MP Prajwal Revanna. 

H.D. Revanna was apprehended at the home of his father, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, in Bengaluru’s Padmanabhanagar neighbourhood. He has been taken to the SIT office at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Revanna opened the door and walked out alongside the SIT officers to their vehicle. He made no comment at the time of his arrest, news agency IANS quoted sources as saying.

According to IANS sources, the SIT officers arrived at the former Prime Minister’s residence shortly after the court denied his anticipatory bail plea in a case involving the kidnapping of a woman allegedly sexually assaulted by his son Prajwal Revanna.

Earlier on Saturday, the SIT tracked down the kidnapped woman to the farmhouse of Rajashekar, H.D. Revanna’s personal assistant (PA), in Kalenahalli village, Mysuru. In court, Special Public Prosecutor B.N. Jagadish argued that the case is about saving the life of a poor woman.

Jagadish claimed that despite receiving three notices, H.D. Revanna failed to appear before the authorities. Senior counsel Muthy D. Naik, representing H.D. Revanna, claimed that the only allegation against his client is that he summoned the victim to his home.

Aside from that, he argued that there is nothing to prove H.D. Revanna’s role in this case, and that the statement was made by an accused in the case with whom his client has no connection.

He also claimed that the SIT purposefully added IPC Section 364A, which carries life imprisonment and the death penalty, to ensure that his client’s bail plea is denied. The other IPC Sections invoked in the case, 363 and 365, carry sentences of less than seven years. Therefore, to prove H.D. Revanna’s innocence, he should be granted bail, Naik argued.

Meanwhile, the woman who had gone missing on April 29 was discovered locked up in the farmhouse after SIT officers received a tip-off. Rajashekar has been on the run since the SIT tracked down the missing woman to his farmhouse, IANS quoted sources as saying. The woman is being transported to Bengaluru, where her statement will be recorded.

On Friday, Karnataka Police filed a FIR against H.D. Revanna in connection with the kidnapping of a woman who is believed to be one of the victims of his son Prajwal Revanna’s sex video scandal. The woman’s son filed a missing complaint, naming H.D. Revanna as the primary accused in the case.

Satish Babu, his relative, was named as the second accused in the FIR and was arrested by police in Mysuru district on Friday.