Bengaluru/New Delhi: As Congress on Monday held protests in Karnataka demanding the immediate arrest of Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, who is facing allegations of sexually abusing hundreds of women but managed to flee the country, the grand old party leader Priyanka Gandhi questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the matter.
"The leader on whose shoulder the PM puts his hand and gets himself photographed, the leader for whom the PM himself goes to campaign 10 days before the election. He praises him on the stage. Today, that leader from Karnataka is absconding from the country. Just hearing about his heinous crimes makes my heart tremble. He has ruined the lives of hundreds of women. Modi ji will you remain silent?" Priyanka Gandhi said in a post on X.
Swati Maliwal wants Revanna brought back and disqualified
Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha member and former Chairperson, Delhi Commission for Women, Swati Maliwal has also sought action against Prajwal Revanna, demanding that the Election Commission and the central government should take steps to "catch, bring back and disqualify" the Hassan MP.
"A monster like Prajwal Revanna fled abroad after exploiting so many girls. If such a man reaches the parliament, what message will it send to the women of the country? I demand from the Election Commission and the Government of India that this man should be caught and brought back, and he should be disqualified," she told the media.
"There are 3,000 obscene videos of his viral on social media. It is being told that some of the women he sexually assaulted worked at his home, some were party workers, and some other were government employees. They have filed complaints stating that this man not only sexually assaulted them but recorded the same...It is being said that BJP knew about it. How did they give him the ticket then?" Maliwal asked.
Protest by Congress workers
Meanwhile, Congress workers -- with women members joining in large numbers -- took to the streets in Hubballi, Hassan and Bengaluru, among other places, seeking action against the 33-year-old grandson of JD(S) chief and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda.
In Bengaluru, the protest was led by All India Mahila Congress President Alka Lamba outside the office of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. Lamba said the horrifying case of sexual violence against hundreds of women has shocked the nation.
"More than 3,000 videos with hundreds of women being sexually harassed, violated and even brutalised by MP Prajwal Revanna over the past few years have shaken the conscience of Kannadigas and Indians alike," she said.
SIT probing case
The Congress government in Karnataka on Sunday constituted a Special Investigation Team to investigate the allegations against the Hassan MP and Lok Sabha poll candidate after several videos of Revanna allegedly sexually abusing women came into the public domain. The explicit video clips allegedly involving Prajwal started making the rounds in Hassan in recent days.
The three-member SIT of IPS officers is led by the Additional Director General of Police (CID) Bijay Kumar Singh, while the other two members are Assistant Inspector General of Police Suman D Pennekar and Mysuru Superintendent of Police Seema Latkar. The SIT has been directed to complete its investigation swiftly.
The Karnataka government formed the SIT after a letter by Chairperson of Women's Commission Dr Nagalakshmi Chowdhary to the government regarding the sexual abuse of hundreds of women allegedly by Revanna.
Revanna was booked in a sexual harassment case 28 following complaints by his former house help. The case has been registered under sections 354A, 354D, 506, and 509 of the IPC on charges of sexual harassment, intimidation and outraging the dignity of a woman. As per the complaint, the victim has claimed that both HD Revanna and Prajwal Revanna sexually assaulted her. The complainant further claimed that when Revanna's wife was not at home, he touched her inappropriately and used to sexually assault her.
Revanna flees country
The JD(S) joined the NDA in September last year. Prajwal is the NDA candidate in Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, which went to the polls on April 26. According to police sources, he fled the country to Germany after voting was over as the videos began surfacing.
JD(S) MLA seeks Revanna's expulsion
Earlier today, Janata Dal (Secular) MLA Sharana Gowda Kandakur wrote to party president HD Deve Gowda demanding the expulsion of Prajwal Revanna from the party over the alleged obscene video case. Kandakur said that the expulsion of HD Deve Gowda's grandson will save the party from further embarrassment. Another JD(S) MLA Samruddhi Manjunath also raised questions on the issue, saying it had become an embarrassment for party workers.
"Not only are ordinary workers of the party embarrassed in the state, but even mentioning the name of the party has become embarrassing. As a first-time MLA, I am not being able to answer the questions asked by the media. It is high time that honorable President H.D. Deve Gowda should take an appropriate decision," he posted on X.
Prajwal Revanna is seeking a fresh term in the Lower House from Hassan as a candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and is pitted against Congress' Shreyas Patel.
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