BENGALURU: A special court for elected representatives on Friday convicted Prajwal Revanna, ex-Hassan MP and grandson of former prime minister HD Devegowda, for raping a 47-year-old domestic help. He was found guilty in one of the three rape cases registered against him.
The court will pronounce the quantum of punishment tomorrow.Earlier this year, the special court had framed charges against Prajwal under sections 376(2)(k) (raping a woman over whom one has control or power), 376(2)(n) (repeatedly raping the same woman), 354A (sexual harassment), 354B (disrobing a woman), 354C (voyeurism), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the then Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 66E (violation of privacy) of the Information Technology Act.
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Special public prosecutor Ashok Nayak told TOI that 26 witnesses were cross-examined during the trial, which commenced on May 2 this year. “It took 38 adjournments/dates to complete the trial, including argument dates. The prosecution examined 26 witnesses and marked 180 documents as exhibits,” he said.Here’s what happenedA 47-year-old woman accused JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna and his father, MLA HD Revanna, of sexual harassment.The woman, who had worked as domestic help at the Revanna household between 2019 and 2022, told SIT officials she was also sexually abused at this location. She said she was employed at the Basavanagudi house for two to three weeks during her tenure. (The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)