Subhechcha Ganguly 
A special court in Bengaluru on Saturday sentenced former Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna to life imprisonment for raping a 48-year-old domestic worker employed at his family’s farmhouse in Holenarasipura, Hassan district. The case is the first among four sexual assault cases registered against the 34-year-old leader, who was suspended from JD(S) following the allegations.
The court designated for trying cases involving MPs and MLAs, presided over by Judge Santosh Gajanan Bhat, also imposed a ₹10 lakh fine on Revanna. He was convicted on Friday under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including rape, repeated rape, sexual harassment, voyeurism, and criminal intimidation, as well as provisions under the IT Act for violation of privacy.
The prosecution argued that the crime warranted the maximum punishment, given its severity. According to the charges, Revanna raped the victim twice in 2021 — once at the Revanna family’s Gannikada farmhouse and later in Bengaluru. The assaults were allegedly recorded by Revanna on his mobile phone.
During the sentencing hearing, Revanna broke down in court and pleaded for leniency. Claiming he had done nothing wrong, he attributed the allegations to his “rapid political rise,” saying, “The only mistake I made in my life is growing fast in politics.” He also questioned the timing of the complaints, suggesting they were orchestrated just before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Revanna argued that the victim had not immediately informed her family about the alleged rape, and only filed a complaint after explicit videos were circulated.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which arrested Revanna on May 31, 2024, upon his return from Germany, had filed a detailed 1,632-page chargesheet in September that included testimonies from 113 witnesses. Special Public Prosecutor Ashok Nayak said the court accepted all prosecution arguments, backed by victim testimony, medical and forensic evidence, digital records, and recovered clothing from the crime scene.
The SIT’s investigation began after pen drives containing sexually explicit videos allegedly involving Revanna surfaced in Hassan ahead of the Lok Sabha polls on April 26, 2024. Revanna, the grandson of former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda, lost his seat in the elections and was subsequently suspended from JD(S).
The court’s ruling marks a significant step in the legal proceedings against Revanna, who still faces three additional cases of sexual assault.
