Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of former prime minister HD Devegowda and sitting MP from Karnataka's Hassan Lok Sabha seat has reportedly fled the country to Germany after expecit video clips allegedly involving him surfaced in Hassan recently.
A woman in a police complaint has accused Prajwal and his father HD Revanna, who is MLA from Holenarasipur, of "sexually assaulting thousands of women".
According to reports, the woman who has lodged a complaint against father-son duo worked at Revanna's house.
The complainant informed the police that she decided to speak against the father-son duo after watching videos of other victims sharing their story.
Prajwal, incumbent MP from Hassan, is NDA candidate from the same seat. In his nomination affidavit submitted before Election Commission, he has declared no criminal cases against him. As per his nomination affidavit, Prajwal has declared total assets worth Rs 40.85 crore (movable assets worth Rs 5.48 crore and immovable assets worth 35.84 crore), which is a four-fold increase from 2019.
His election affidavit reveals that he had Rs 9,79,395 cash in hand, and his bank balance stood at Rs 57,14,256.62. He had declared the possession of jewellery worth Rs 86,64,500.
According to a report by The News Minute, the Karnataka Mahila Dourjanya Virodhi Vedike lodged a complaint with the Women’s Commission. The organisation alleged that videos depicting the politician engaging in sexual abuse and coercing women into sexual activities were being distributed across Hassan district via pen drives and were also circulating on social media platforms.
"The videos purportedly feature Prajwal Revanna with several women," the report further stated.
Gag order
Journalist Dhairya Rajendran claimed in a post on X that videos of Prajwal Revanna did not surface in the news cycle before the polling concluded in Hassan because he obtained a court gag order last year, preempting the potential release of such videos.
BJP leaders had warned state leadership about allegations
According to a news report by The News Minute, a local BJP leader from Hassan district had alerted the state leadership about allegations of Prajwal Revanna's sexual misconduct towards women. However, despite these warnings, he was chosen as the NDA candidate from Hassan.
The report further states that G Devaraje Gowda, who contested the 2023 Assembly elections as a BJP candidate from Holenarsipura, wrote to Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra in October 2023, cautioning against nominating Prajwal as an NDA candidate.
The BJP and JD(S) allied in September of the previous year, and Prajwal was announced as the NDA candidate in March of this year.
Devaraje Gowda mentioned in his letter that “there are serious allegations against several leaders of the HD Deve Gowda family (including Prajwal Revanna, the NDA candidate) of the JD(S), the party with which we are in alliance,” as reported by The News Minute.
He claimed to have received a pen drive containing 2,976 videos showing women, including government officials, engaged in sexual acts. These videos were allegedly being used to blackmail them into further participation in such activities.
