Solving Crime: A saree, forensic science, and a woman’s grit, how Karnataka cops cracked the Prajwal Revanna rape case | Bangalore News

Visuals from a pen drive spark a row

April 2024. Like many other states in the country, Karnataka was gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections. Prajwal, the grandson of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and son of former minister H D Revanna, was eyeing a win in Hassan—this time, as a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate.

At the time, rumours were rife in parts of Hassan district of an alleged sex scandal involving Prajwal. But there was no clear evidence. Prajwal had also obtained an injunction from the court, prohibiting the media from telecasting any defamatory news or video regarding this matter, claiming that the evidence was forged.

However, less than four days before the Lok Sabha elections in the state on April 26, pen drives containing multiple sexually explicit videos and photos allegedly involving Prajwal and several women started circulating in Hassan district. On April 26, while voting for the Hassan seat was underway, the videos began circulating across the state, prompting the government and the police to intervene.

While Prajwal contested the elections, he fled the country soon after, using his diplomatic passport. At this point, no formal complaints had been filed against him.

By April 30, however, as the controversy over the pen drive gathered steam, the JD(S) expelled Prajwal from the party. He would later lose the election too.

SIT formed, cops put vacation plans on hold

As videos from the pen drive went viral, the controversy drew national attention. It was then that a woman who used to work as a domestic help for the Revannas approached the jurisdictional police, saying that she was allegedly sexually harassed and threatened by Prajwal and his father.

As public pressure mounted, the state government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Bijay Kumar Singh and including IPS officers Suman D Pennekar and Seema Latkar, on April 27, just a day after the elections in Hassan. The other members of the team were handpicked, and a 28-member SIT, including 14 women, was formed.

“No one from Hassan district or working in Hassan district was part of the team…to prevent any kind of influence. We were worried about the families of the police officers, also,” one of the SIT members said.

The police visited both locations where the woman was allegedly raped. (Express Photo)

With schools shutting down for summer vacation, families had their travel plans lined up. IPS officer Pennekar was no different. “I was planning to take my daughter on a tour when the order was issued. I immediately dropped the plan and reported to the SIT,” she said.

A 2010-batch Police Inspector, Shobha N, was appointed as the investigating officer (IO) in the case. Shobha was also planning to take a break during the summer. “There was some festival and I was on bandobast duty when I received a call from the SIT chief to report to the CID office to investigate the case. I never thought that I would be part of a team investigating one of the most high-profile cases of the country,” she recalled.

A woman who thought she had committed a crime

By then, another domestic worker employed by the Revannas went missing. She was in the videos doing the rounds. On April 29, her son-in-law approached the jurisdictional police and filed a kidnap case, alleging H D Revanna and his wife, Bhavani, had abducted her after the complaint was filed.

“The initial information was that she had done some fake voting in Holenarasipura. The Revannas said the police were looking to arrest her and directed her to move to a farmhouse,” the son-in-law told The Indian Express.

The woman, believing that she was accused of a crime, went to the farmhouse.

At the time, the family was unaware she was featured in the videos. “I was in touch with my mother-in-law. As soon as I saw the video, I was shocked. I called her and asked her about her whereabouts, but did not reveal anything related to the videos. She gave me the address and then I informed the police,” he said.

When the SIT learned about the information, they reached the farmhouse. By then, the woman had escaped to a relative’s house in Hunsur. However, using technical evidence, the SIT and local police tracked her and rescued her. “She did not know that she was misguided and was being controlled by others,” her son-in-law said.

On May 4, the SIT team brought her to Bengaluru.

‘What will my family think?’

A mother of two children, the woman had celebrated her granddaughter’s birth four months before the alleged incident. She had never gone to school and was married to a man who was an alcoholic, the police said.

She had worked for the Revannas for eight years.

After she was brought to Bengaluru, a special team of counsellors from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Nimhans) and the Bengaluru city police counselling team, Parihar, interacted with her.

“It was then that she got to know that her videos were being circulated. She was shattered. She did not know what to do or how to return to her home. Given her background, we did not speak about the videos, but instilled faith and confidence in her,” a police officer, who was part of the probe, revealed.

When the SIT learned about the information, they reached the farmhouse. (Express Photo)

The woman had several concerns, the officer said. “Would she be able to return to her village? What would her husband and family members think? What would the villagers say about her? How would she earn her living? What if the Revannas did something to her or her family members?” the officer added.

Vinutha S, who was with the City Crime Records Bureau (CCRB) in Bengaluru at the time, was one of the first police officers to interact with the woman. “It was really tough for me, being a woman. Whenever I was telling her that we would stand by her and get her justice, two things were running through my mind: Would we be able to provide her justice, given the accused’s background? Also, what if she turned hostile?” she said.

Pennekar recalls that it was initially portrayed as a political case. “But after we got evidence, we found it to be genuine. But we were also dealing with a crime that had taken place three or four years ago. There were a lot of apprehensions,” she said.

Over the next couple of days, the woman gained confidence, the police said.

“Being the investigating officer, it was tough, but the aim was to collect evidence and bring her justice. The woman said the alleged incident had taken place twice between 2021 and 2022, once in a farmhouse and once at a residence. Considering Prajwal’s political clout, she said she had never spoken about it,” Shobha said.

The police visited both locations where the woman was allegedly raped. While one structure where the alleged rape took place was demolished, the police seized many materials, including a mattress, from the other location.

A lucky break: a saree serves as evidence

As the probe continued, Shobha recalls that the videos were played before the woman. “We asked about the clothes that she was wearing. At one point, she said that one of the sarees that she was wearing was kept at the farmhouse before she quit her job,” Shobha said.

“We got a second search warrant and went in search of the saree,” SIT chief Singh said, adding that it was sheer luck that the police could seize the saree and blouse.

The team made Prajwal sit in the middle seat of the vehicle and took him to the CID office, where the SIT was operating. (Express Photo)

“Before she quit, she had packed the saree and the blouse and placed them in another building, which lay unnoticed. Fortunately, it was not exposed to humidity. No one expected that it would become crucial evidence in the case,” Shobha said.

When the pieces of clothing were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), traces of residual body fluids were found on the saree, the police said. A match was found between the DNA samples collected from the ex-MP and traces found on the garment.

All-women team takes custody of Prajwal

Meanwhile, two more First Information Reports (FIRs) were filed against Prajwal, but he remained elusive. Interpol also issued a Blue Corner Notice against him. On May 28, 2024, Prajwal released a video, saying he would return to India soon.

On the midnight of May 31, 2024, Prajwal returned to Bengaluru from Germany. An all-women team was sent to arrest him. “It was a conscious decision,” Pennekar said.

The team made Prajwal sit in the middle seat of the vehicle and took him to the CID office, where the SIT was operating. Even later, whenever he was taken to court or a hospital for his medical checkup, the women officials accompanied him.

When court rulings from Turkey and Japan helped

A major hurdle for the police was proving that Prajwal was the perpetrator of the rape. In the videos, a man’s genitals and thighs were exposed before the camera, not his face. “In the videos, only the victim’s face was seen. The challenge was to prove that Prajwal was the one who committed the crime. Taking suggestions from B K Singh, we went through the court orders of other countries. There were two court rulings, one in Japan and another in Turkey, where identity was established by comparing the body parts in the video through a medical examination,” Pennekar said.

“In the medical examination, the photos of the accused’s body parts (exposed in the videos) were captured and sent to FSL. The reports indicated that it was of Prajwal Revanna,” Pennekar said.

Another challenge was proving that the videos were genuine and were recorded by Prajwal himself.

The SIT then sent the viral videos to FSL. Once they received the report that the videos were genuine, they sent the voice samples of Prajwal and the woman, the images of the places where the alleged assault had taken place and photos of his body. The FSL report stated that the voice samples and images matched those in the videos.

In August 2024, the SIT filed chargesheets against Prajwal.

The trial and conviction

Earlier this year, Prajwal applied for bail in the high court and the Supreme Court, but his pleas were rejected. The family also sought a print copy of all the digital evidence in the rape case, but this too was denied.

In May, the trial in the case began in a special court for MPs and MLAs. “The cross-examination went on for several hours, for the victim, and me as well. Many times, she broke down during the hearing, but that did not shake her resolve,” Shobha said.

Singh, too, hailed her resolve. “She stood like a rock. The defence tried every possible way to derail the court proceedings, but she stood strong—even when she was cross-examined for eight hours.”

On July 18, the trial concluded, and on August 2, the court sentenced Prajwal to life imprisonment. He was convicted under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, on several charges, including being in a position of control or dominance over a woman, commits rape on such woman, commits rape repeatedly on the same woman, sexual harassment, etc. He was also convicted under Section 66(e) (intentionally or knowingly captures, publishes or transmits the image of a private area of any person without his or her consent) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

“We relied heavily on scientific evidence. Witness statements may change, but science speaks facts,” Singh told the media.

The SIT members say it was a coordinated effort that ensured the woman got justice. “There were several women NGOs that helped. The counsellors, the woman who stood strong, the public prosecutor, agencies including FSL and doctors who conducted medical examination, all helped take the case to its logical end,” says Pennekar.

Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat began his judgment with the Sanskrit words that translate to “wherever women are worshipped, there divinity resides”.

“In my humble opinion, committing of sexual offences against maid and other women in the society by showing disdain towards them due to their economic condition is a grave offence which cannot be brushed aside lightly and such kind of a conduct cannot be accepted as a normal one. It is to be kept in mind of the apt quote of Lord Denning wherein it is stated as ‘Be ye never so high, the law is above you’,” he said in the order.

Quoting from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, judge Bhat said, “The law (Dharma) is the king of kings. No one is superior to the law (Dharma); the law (Dharma) aided by the power of the king enables the weak to prevail over the strong. Further Rape of any kind and on any one is an anathema in a civilized society which would totally deprive the victim of her normal life.”

The Indian Express has learnt that the survivor has got a new lease of life in Bengaluru. “She has found a job and is trying to move ahead. She is earning her livelihood, and we hope she will come out of the trauma someday,” her son-in-law told Express.