Sexual abuse: Hassan MP Prajwal returns to country, arrested by SIT at airport

Prajwal Revanna. File pic

Minutes after arriving in this country after midnight on Friday suspended JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna - who is accused of sexually abusing multiple women - was taken into custody by the SIT looking into the matter. After arriving from Munich, the 33-year-old MP was detained by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) at Kempegowda International Airport and brought to the CID headquarters for questioning. At the airport, a sizable contingent of police officers was stationed to guarantee his safe transportation for further examination. A month after the controversy began, the MP - dressed in what appeared to be a hoodie - returned to Bengaluru, where he was apprehended by investigators from the Central Industrial Security Forces and ultimately turned over to the SIT.

He had a pending court warrant against him. According to sources, the SIT placed him under custody following the formalities. Officials said that cops, mindful of his protection, led him out via a secondary exit. Prajwal Revanna, who is accused of sexually abusing multiple women, uploaded a video on May 27 and stated he would appear before the SIT on May 31. This was exactly one month after he left the country. The 33-year-old Prajwal, the BJP-JD(S) alliance candidate from the Hassan Lok Sabha segment and the grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda, is accused of sexually abusing numerous women. He has been accused of sexual assault in three cases thus far. He had left for Germany on April 27, a day after Hassan went to the polls. A 'Blue Corner Notice' seeking information on his whereabouts has been issued by Interpol earlier, following a request by the SIT via the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

A Special Court for Elected Representatives issued an arrest warrant on May 18 against Prajwal Revanna, following an application moved by the SIT. The Congress-led Karnataka government has urged the Centre to cancel his diplomatic passport. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has served a show-cause notice to Prajwal asking why his diplomatic passport should not be cancelled as sought by the Karnataka government in view of allegations of sexual abuse against him. The MP, terming the cases against him as false and alleging political conspiracy, had said in a video statement issued earlier this week that he had gone into depression. He had also filed an anticipatory bail plea at the Principal City and Sessions Court for Elected Representatives on May 29, which issued a notice to the SIT to file objections, before posting the hearing for Friday. The scandal has raised a political storm with the ruling Congress and BJP-JD(S) engaged in a slugfest.

The NDA allies, the BJP and JD(S), have insisted that the investigation be turned over to the CBI and that those responsible for the widespread distribution of pornographic recordings face consequences, even though the Congress government has established a SIT to look into the instances. The sexual abuse cases surfaced after many pen drives purportedly carrying pornographic films of Prajwal went viral in Hassan ahead of the April 26 Lok Sabha elections. Prajwal Revanna was recently given a 'stern warning' by Deve Gowda, who demanded that he come back to the nation so that an investigation into the claims of sexual assault could be conducted. He also promised that neither he nor any other family members would impede the investigation. The JD(S) supremo had reiterated that his grandson should be given the harshest punishment under the law "if found guilty". Prajwal's uncle and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy too had repeatedly appealed to his nephew to return to the country from abroad and face the probe. JD(S) has suspended Prajwal Revanna from the party following the allegations.

(With Inputs from PTI)