Former Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna sentenced to life imprisonment by Bengaluru Special Court in a rape case. He is guilty in one of the three rape cases registered against him in Karnataka’s Hassan district last year.
Prajwal, 34, is the grandson of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, son of Karnataka ex-minister H D Revanna and nephew of Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy.
Prajwal was accused of raping a middle-aged domestic worker at a family-owned farmhouse, allegedly while exercising “a position of control or dominance.” He was charged under Section 376(2)(k) of the Indian Penal Code, which pertains to aggravated rape involving abuse of power, as well as offences related to sexual harassment and criminal intimidation.
The court on Saturday also imposed Rs 10 lakh fine on Prajwal.
The case against Prajwal Revanna
The Former Hassan MP has been in judicial custody since May 31, 2024, following his arrest upon returning from Germany. His flight from the country came after explicit videos surfaced, allegedly showing him sexually assaulting multiple women, recordings made on his own mobile phone.
The leaked videos emerged just days before the April 26, 2024 Lok Sabha election in Hassan, where Prajwal contested as the JD(S)-BJP alliance candidate. He ultimately lost the seat to the Congress nominee.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Karnataka police, constituted to probe the allegations, built a robust case against Prajwal. Apart from the video evidence, investigators secured a key breakthrough through DNA analysis. Hair follicles and bodily fluid traces found on a garment worn by the victim on the day of the alleged assault matched Prajwal’s DNA.
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The case formally began with the survivor’s statement recorded on May 2, 2024. She had filed the complaint on May 8, shortly after being rescued from a farmhouse near Mysuru, where she claimed she was held captive after being identified in one of the leaked videos. The SIT filed a voluminous 1,632-page chargesheet in December 2024, drawing on testimony from 113 witnesses. Charges were framed on April 3, 2025, and the trial concluded with Prajwal’s conviction and life sentence.
A pivotal figure in bringing the case to light was Prajwal’s former driver, Karthik N (34), who blew the whistle. During the trial, Karthik testified that he had discovered over 2,000 obscene images and 40–50 sexually explicit videos on the MP’s phone, leading to the unravelling of the wider pattern of abuse.
While the trial in this case has concluded, Prajwal is also facing prosecution in two other sexual assault cases. One involves the repeated alleged assault of a former JD(S) zilla panchayat worker, with the victim’s husband recently testifying in court. Another case has been registered based on a complaint by a domestic cook formerly employed by the Revanna family, as well as her daughter, who has alleged sexual harassment by the ex-MP.
Prajwal’s family has dismissed the cases as politically motivated, accusing the ruling Congress government of orchestrating a conspiracy to dismantle their influence in the Hassan region, a long-held JD(S) stronghold.