Prajwal Revanna ‘sex abuse’ videos: Probe all members of his family, demand writers and activists

The letter by authors and activists was addressed to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Home Minister G Parameshwara said the government would look into their demands.

Since both father and son are involved in the case, Bhavani Revanna, mother of Prajwal, should also be questioned in the case, they urged. They also urged the government to suspend H D Revanna as an MLA until the investigation into the cases of sexual assault is complete.

Prominent among the 16 demands made in the letter are that the MP should be arrested wherever he is and that a safe atmosphere should be ensured for the victims to file complaints without fear.

The investigation carried out by the special investigation team should be time-bound, the letter read, noting that amendments to Indian Penal Code section 173 required investigation in cases of rape to be completed within 60 days.

Karthik, the MP’s former driver who claimed to have the latter’s sex abuse videos, should also be arrested, they urged, adding that BJP leader G Devaraje Gowda should be booked for “concealing the cases of assault, indirectly helping the accused flee the country, for allowing videos to fall into the hands of anti-social elements and for conspiring to influence the elections by using the videos”.

The letter writers also demanded that BJP national president J P Nadda and state president B Y Vijayendra be considered part of the conspiracy as they had failed to inform the police about Prajwal’s antecedents, despite being informed about them by Devaraje Gowda.

In the letter, they expressed shock over the “incident being used for political gain”. “This irresponsible behaviour is belittling the original crime and its consequences,” read the letter.

The alleged sexual abuse by the MP, according to the letter, was “reminiscent of the anti-woman, feudal and patriarchal system prevalent in the 19th century”. It is an insult to democracy that Prajwal Revanna was allowed to contest the Lok Sabha election from the constituency despite the allegation becoming public knowledge, they added.

The letter also said that politicians’ statements about the scandal “have not been gender-sensitive and the media has tried to depict the victims as guilty”. “This has prevented many victims from approaching agencies,” it added.