Fourth FIR registered against Prajwal in sexual abuse case

Bengaluru: The special investigation team (SIT) probing allegations of sexual harassment cases against former Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna has filed a fourth first information report (FIR) against him. This case stems from a complaint by a woman who accused Revanna of sexual assault and also alleged that he recorded their private video calls without her consent.

On Monday, the SIT requested a body warrant to facilitate Revanna’s custody in this latest case. This request came after he was sent to judicial custody for 14 days. He was earlier detained for five days over a previous sexual assault allegation.

Following the SIT request, special magistrate KN Shivakumar issued this order to the SIT custody of Prajwal Revanna until June 29.

The latest FIR also implicates three other individuals - former BJP MLA Preetham Gowda from Hassan, along with associates Kiran and Sharath. Kiran and Sharath have been questioned multiple times over the last month over the release of videos on sexual abuse involving Prajwal . In the latest FIR, these men are accused of distributing the compromising images allegedly recorded by Revanna during these video calls.

Although the SIT has withheld specific details about the victim and the timing of the incidents, a senior officer said that the woman initially contacted Revanna concerning her son’s school admission. “Since then, the MP began calling her on video calls seeking sexual favour. The MP recorded the video calls,” said a senior officer.

The complaint further said that recently she had discovered that her videos were made public and decided to lodge a complaint. While the complaint accused Revanna of recording the video violating her privacy and on charges of sexual harassment, the other three have been accused of distributing the alleged videos.

The fourth FIR includes charges under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), notably section 354 (outraging a woman’s modesty) and section 354C (voyeurism), as well as section 66E of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (violation of privacy).

The latest case adds to the ongoing case involving more than 2,900 video clips reportedly found on Revanna’s mobile phones. These clips were leaked, allegedly by political opponents, ahead of the April 26 Lok Sabha elections, in which Revanna was defeated in the Hassan constituency.

When asked about the development near the BJP party office in Malleswaram on Tuesday, former BJP MLA Preetham Gowda said that he was unaware of any complaint and would respond after reviewing the FIR.

This is the fourth FIR against Revanna. Following the first complaint, lodged on April 28, an FIR was registered against both Prajwal and his father, HD Revanna, in alleged sexual harassment case. In this complaint, a woman who had worked as a house help within the Revanna family accused Prajwal and his father of rape.

The second complaint, lodged on May 2 with the Hassan police, came from a 44-year-old political worker who accused the MP of rape, stating that the assault occurred in his official quarters in Hassan city in 2021. The complainant alleged that Prajwal had threatened her and her husband and had recorded the assault on his phone, later using the footage to coerce her into further sexual encounters between January 1, 2021, and April 25, 2024.

On May 8, an FIR was registered based on a complaint from a woman who worked as a house help for the Revanna family. The SIT booked Revanna for repeated rape of a woman in her sixties from Mysuru.