Trigger warning: sexual abuse, violence against women
“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 Revanna's wife wasn't there, he used to call the women to the store room and touch them while giving them fruits. He used to remove saree pins and used to sexually assault women.”
This is how a 47-year-old woman from Hassan, Karnataka, described her ordeal to the police as she lodged a case against Prajwal Revanna, BJP-JD(S) alliance’s candidate and grandson of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda.
In a complaint lodged at the Holenarsipura police station on April 28, she accused Janata Dal (Secular) leader Prajwal Revanna and his father HD Revanna of sexually harassing her and her daughter between 2019 and 2022.
Prajwal was suspended by JD(S) today.
Several complaints have surfaced over the last week against Prajwal Revanna, accusing him of abusing multiple women. Pen drives reportedly containing videos of women being coerced into sex are doing rounds in Hassan, and they allegedly contain visuals of Prajwal as well.
Police on Sunday booked both Prajwal and his father for sexual harassment and criminal intimidation based on a complaint from the woman who worked in their house.
However, Prajwal could not be nabbed by the police since he fled to Germany the day these complaints came to the fore.
Allegations against Prajwal Revanna
The 47-year-old complainant claimed she had been working at the Revannas for three-and-a-half years. She wrote in detail how fear gripped the female staff whenever Prajwal would come back home. Even the male workers would caution the women to be alert and careful around him. “He used to touch my face on the pretext of giving fruit,” the complainant wrote according to the FIR, which was accessed by Outlook.
She also alleged that the JD(S) leader made video calls to her daughter and tried to “provoke her through indecent conversation”. When she came across the alleged sexual assault videos doing rounds on WhatsApp and news reports of other women who claimed they were also abused, the complainant decided to approach the police.
Subsequently, a case was registered under Sections 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 509 (outraging the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The state government also decided to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident after the chairperson of the state women’s commission, Nagalakshmi Chaudhury, wrote to the state police chief and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
“In Hassan, pen drives are being distributed containing obscene videos of women. It is now circulating on social media. This is most distressing and there are hundreds of women in the videos. The women’s commission has also received a pen drive and there is a complaint as well,” the chairperson said last week.
Karnataka BJP leader Devaraje Gowda, from Hassan district, had allegedly warned the state leadership about allegations that Prajwal Revanna was sexually abusing women back in December 2023. In a letter, purportedly written to state party chief B Y Vijayendra, he had urged for the matter to be brought to the attention of national leaders. Devaraje had contested from Holenarasipura in the April 2023 Karnataka state assembly elections and had lost to Prajwal’s father H D Revanna.
“If we align with the JD(S) and if we nominate a JD(S) candidate in Hassan for the Lok Sabha elections, these videos can be used as a brahmastra (weapon) and we will be tainted as a party that aligned with the family of a rapist. This will be a big blow to the image of our party nationally,” Devaraje Gowda reportedly said in a letter to state party chief B Y Vijayendra.
The purported letter was shared by Congress leaders on social media.
What BJP, JD(S) say
The horrific allegations come at a time when the BJP-JD(S) alliance is aiming to win over the South Karnataka region that went to polls on April 26. Both its leaders have publicly sung praises of each other, especially after the announcement of the alliance, despite being critical of each other in the past.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had shared the stage with Revanna on April 14 while addressing a mega public meeting at Maharaja's college ground in Mysuru that was aimed at drumming up support for BJP and JD(S) candidates from Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Mandya and Hassan Lok Sabha constituencies.
However, the BJP seems to have now distanced itself from the ongoing row. Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra said his party has nothing to do with the allegations against Prajwal, and that the law will take its course. He also accused the ruling Congress in the state of playing "dirty politics" by targeting the BJP on the issue. The BJP national general secretary Radha Mohan Das Agrawal said the BJP is not responsible for the selection of the candidate “or for certifying their character if the contestant is from an alliance partner".
Meanwhile, Home Minister Amit Shah addressed the allegations saying that it "cannot be tolerated". However, he blamed the Congress government in state for not taking any action against the candidate.
"I want to ask Congress, whose government is there? Why have they not taken any action till now? We (BJP) do not have to take action on this as this is a law and order issue of the state; the state government has to take action on it," he said.
On the other hand, some JD(S) leaders, including HD Revanna, claim that the incident is ‘four to five years old’ and that ‘old’ videos are being circulated as part of some "political conspiracy".
Social Outrage
Activists are questioning this line of reasoning and reiterate that it doesn’t reduce the gravity of the crimes committed by a person in power.
“Four-five years ago, JD(S) held some kind of strong power in the state. They were expected to make policies to protect women,” said Brinda Adige, women’s rights activist from Bengaluru. “So how is this statement acceptable,” she asked.
HD Revanna has denied the allegations against him and his son but said that he was open to investigation and ready to face action as per law if the charges are proven.
'Not a one-off incident'
Women’s rights activists reiterate that Revanna’s case is not a one-off incident of sexual harassment allegations against politicians.
Take the case of BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh. The country’s top women wrestlers made sexual harassment allegations against Singh, led a long protest against him and the Union government’s failure to act and even gave up their national awards. Yet, Singh is currently out on bail. “They constantly escape…even the procedural actions that have to be taken against them. They use the political space to get away,” Adige added.
“How far has SIT been helpful in the past or how helpful it can be in this case is a big doubt,” she says.
Activists have also appealed to the state government to provide protection to the victims in this case. Some media reports have claimed that some of these women attempted suicide owing to the mental trauma caused by the obscene videos going viral.
“The victims need all the support they can get…knowing that the accused in the case is a powerful person,” said Adige, recommending that the government constitute an ombudsman and a committee with civil society organisations to stand with the women.
