JD(S) ex-MP Prajwal Revanna gets life term for raping house help

A special court here on Saturday sentenced to life imprisonment former MP and suspended JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna in a rape case.

Special Court for MPs/MLAs Judge Santosh Gajanan Bhat also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on Revanna, the grandson of former PM and JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda. The court had on Friday convicted the 34-year-old in one of the four sexual abuse and rape cases registered against him and reserved the sentencing for Saturday. The case pertains to a 48-year-old woman who was working as a help at the family’s Gannikada farmhouse in Hassan district’s Holenarasipura. She was allegedly raped twice—at the farmhouse and Bengaluru residence—in 2021 and the act recorded by the accused on his mobile phone.

Earlier in the day, while the prosecution sought life sentence for Revanna, the ex-MP sought leniency, claiming he did nothing wrong and that his only mistake was his “fast growth” in politics. He broke down in court as he appealed to the judge for a lesser punishment.

Revanna told the court that he was a BE-Mechanical graduate and had always passed on merit. “They say that I have raped multiple women, but none of the women have come out voluntarily to complain… they came six days prior to election (Lok Sabha polls last year)... the prosecution side brought them purposefully and made them give a complaint,” he told the court.

Pointing out that the woman (victim) had not complained to anyone, including her husband or kin about the alleged rape, he said she came and gave complaint when certain videos were circulated.

Stating that he will bow down to the court’s conviction, Revanna said, “I have a family, I haven’t seen my mother and father for six months now… please give me a less sentence is what I request the court. The only mistake I made in my life is growing fast in politics.” He was arrested in May last year upon his arrival from Germany.

The cases came to light after pen-drives containing explicit videos allegedly involving Revanna were reportedly circulated in Hassan ahead of the Lok Sabha polls there on April 26, 2024. He failed to retain the Hassan parliamentary constituency and the JD(S) also suspended him from the party after the scandal.