Case 1 of 3: Former JDS MP Prajwal Revanna found guilty of rape

“Acting under Sec 235(2) of CrPC, the accused Prajwal Revanna is hereby convicted for committing the offences punishable under Sec 376(2)(k), 376(2)(n), 354-A, 354-B, 354-C, 506, 201 of Indian Penal Code and under Sec 66(E) of Information Technology Act 2008. To hear on quantum of sentence, jail authorities are hereby directed to produce accused physically before the court on the next date of hearing,” Special Sessions Court judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat said in his brief order.

Prajwal was charged with raping a domestic worker, a middle-aged woman, at a farmhouse owned by his family. He was accused of rape while “being in a position of control or dominance” under IPC section 376(2) (k) related to sexual harassment and criminal intimidation.

The former Hassan MP has been in jail since May 31, 2024, when he was arrested on his return from Germany where he had fled after the emergence of explicit videos of sexual attacks on women that were recorded by him on his mobile phone.

The videos were leaked ahead of the April 26, 2024 Parliament election in Hassan where Prajwal was the candidate for the JDS-BJP alliance. He lost the Lok Sabha seat to the Congress candidate.

Apart from the videos, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Karnataka police constituted to investigate the charges was helped by a DNA analysis report of hair follicles and residual body fluids found on a  garment worn by the victim on the day she was assaulted. A match was found between the DNA samples collected from the ex-MP and traces found on the garment.

The conviction of Prajwal came at the end of a trial that began on May 2 with the recording of the statement of the rape survivor. The chargesheet, which ran into 1,632 pages and was backed by 113 witnesses, was filed by the SIT in December 2024 and charges were framed on April 3, 2025.

The case was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by the victim on May 8, 2024, three days after she was rescued from a farmhouse near Mysuru where she was allegedly confined after being identified in the videos.

A former driver of Prajwal was the whistleblower who facilitated the initiation of multiple cases of rape and sexual harassment against the JDS leader. The driver, Karthik N (34), testified during the trial that he found over 2,000 explicit pictures and 40-50 videos of sexual incidents on the phone of the then MP.

The trial in a second case, where Prajwal is accused of repeatedly assaulting a former JDS zilla panchayat worker with threats and coercion, is currently underway with the husband of the victim, also a JDS worker, recording his statement recently. Prajwal is also accused in another case of sexual assault, on a cook who worked for the Revanna family, and the alleged sexual harassment of the cook’s daughter.

The family of Prajwal has alleged a political conspiracy involving the ruling Congress party in the cases with the aim of breaking their political stranglehold in Hassan.