Prajwal Revanna, Lok Sabha MP from Karnataka's Hassan
Bengaluru: The Karnataka Police on Sunday charged Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna and his father HD Revanna with sexual harassment and criminal intimidation, Scroll reported citing The Hindu.
Prajwal Revanna, who is the grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, is contesting as the Janata Dal (Secular)’s Lok Sabha candidate for Hassan constituency. His father HD Revanna is the party MLA representing Holenarasipur.
The case is registered as Janata Dal (Secular) and its alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party, both belonging to National Democratic Alliance, making a bid to outshine the ruling Congress following the failure in Assembly polls.
The Congress administration on Saturday placed a special investigation team to probe the case of “obscene videos” allegedly involving the Hassan MP.
It is reported that videos of alleged sexual harassment against several women, allegedly recorded by Prajwal Revanna himself, were circulated in his constituency on Friday ahead of elections, the report said citing The Indian Express.
As the controversy snowballed on Sunday, the Holenarsipur Police registered an FIR after a woman, who claimed to have worked at Ravanna household more than three years, lodged a complaint.
The complainant, according to The Hindu, is a relative of HD Revanna’s wife.
The woman alleged that the former minister subjected to her to sexual harassment whenever Revanna’s wife was not at home.
Alongside, she accused Prajwal Revanna of inappropriately touching women workers in the house.
The woman also claimed she recognized one of the women in the videos, allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna, as a woman working at a farmhouse owned by the Revanna family, the report said citing The Hindu.
“I have come out now after getting to know hundreds of women were exploited,” she was quoted as saying, adding “It is hard to live in Hassan and take on the family.”
Meanwhile, Prajwal Revanna in a complaint on Sunday claimed that doctored videos were used to “tarnish his image and poison the minds of voters”, NDTV reported.