Prajwal Revanna sentencing: Former JDS MP gets life in prison for sexually assaulting woman

Former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna was on Saturday sentenced to life in prison and a fine of ₹10 lakh for sexually assaulting a woman. 

Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat of the Special Court awarded the politician the maximum punishment under IPC Section 376(2)(n). He was convicted in the case on August 1.

Before his sentencing, Prajwal broke down before the court, seeking a lesser sentence in the rape case and that his has not met his father and mother for six months. He claimed that his "only mistake" was growing fast in politics and alleged that the woman who complained against him did not come forward on their own and were "purposefully" brought forward by the prosecution six days before the election.

He also alleged that the victim complained only after the explicit videos were leaked, claiming that she did not raise alarm about the rape to her husband.

Prajwal, who is son of JD(S) leader HD Revanna and grandson of former PM HD Deve Gowda, has been lodged at Parappana Agrahara Central Jail in Bengaluru since May 2024.

There are four cases containing sexual assault and sexual harassment charges. In the rape case he was sentenced on Saturday, the victim was a house help at his farmhouse in Hassan. Revanna raped her twice in 2021 and filmed the act.

The sexual assault came to light after pen drives containing more than 2,000 explicit videos of Prajwal were circulated in Hassan ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka on April 26, 2024. The former MP who used his diplomatic passport to flee the country to Frankfurt, Germany.

After pressure from his own family and police, Prajwal came back to India on May 31, 2024. He landed at the Kempegowda International Airport from Munich on a Lufthansa flight, following which the Karnataka SIT arrested him.

India