3 August 2025,
Sunday
3 August 2025,
Sunday
Prajwal Revanna: The grandson of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and leader of the Janata Dal Secular (JDS), Prajwal Revanna, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for rape. The court delivered its verdict on Saturday. A day earlier, the former Member of Parliament (MP) from Hassan, Prajwal Revanna, was found guilty in the rape case. The court also imposed a fine, which will be given to the victim as compensation. Previously, Revanna's lawyer had pleaded for a reduced sentence.
The entire scandal involving Prajwal Revanna came to light during the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. On the morning of 24 April 2024, hundreds of pen drives were found on the running track of the Hassan stadium. These drives contained over 3,000 clips allegedly linked to the former MP. The explicit videos quickly went viral across Karnataka and the rest of the country. It is noteworthy that Revanna hails from a prominent political family. Janata Dal Secular leader HD Devegowda served as Prime Minister of India. His uncle, Kumaraswamy, was the Chief Minister of Karnataka. His father held a powerful ministerial position in the state. Revanna himself was a Member of Parliament from the Hassan constituency.
On 1 August, as Judge Santosh Gajanan Bhat of the Bangalore Special Court announced Prajwal's guilt, he broke down in tears. Ashok Nayak, the lawyer representing the victim, stated that the victim's testimony was very strong. The case was four years old, making it challenging to prove the accused guilty. Nayak added that the court found Revanna guilty based on evidence and the victim's testimony.
During the investigation and trial, the victim presented a saree she had kept safe as evidence. Subsequent forensic examination confirmed the presence of semen on the saree, which was presented in court. This was accepted as crucial evidence confirming the rape.
The case was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2008. During the investigation, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the CID, led by Inspector Shobha, collected 123 pieces of evidence and filed a charge sheet of approximately 2,000 pages.
The case was registered on 31 December 2024. Over the following seven months, the court examined 23 witnesses and reviewed key Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) reports on video clips, along with inspection reports from the crime scene.
