Former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna was convicted by a special court in Bengaluru in a sexual abuse and rape case on Friday. Revanna is the prime accused in four criminal cases filed last year, after over 2,000 obscene video clips--allegedly depicting the sexual abuse of multiple women--surfaced on social media. The verdict was delivered just 14 months after the case was registered, with the trial concluding at a remarkable pace. The court is scheduled to pronounce the quantum of punishment on Saturday. Revanna, who appeared visibly emotional in court, broke down and was seen crying as he left the courtroom following the verdict.
The case, which was registered at the Cyber Crime Station of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), accused Revanna of raping the woman on two occasions and recording the act on video.During the course of the investigation and trial, the survivor submitted a saree as physical evidence, which she had preserved. Forensic analysis later confirmed the presence of sperm on the saree, which was presented in court and accepted as key evidence in establishing the rape. The case was filed under relevant sections of the the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2008.The CID’s Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by Inspector Shobha, collected 123 pieces of evidence during the course of the investigation and submitted a voluminous charge sheet spanning nearly 2,000 pages.
The trial commenced on December 31, 2024. Over the next seven months, the court examined 23 witnesses and reviewed key forensic science laboratory (FSL) reports of the video clips, as well as spot inspection reports from the scene of the crime. The sections under which Prajwal Revanna was convicted carry varying degrees of punishment. IPC Sections 376(2)(k) and 376(2)(n) prescribe a minimum sentence of ten years, which may extend to life imprisonment.IPC Sections 354(A), 354(B), and 354(C) attract imprisonment of up to three years. IPC Section 506 carries a sentence of up to six months, while IPC Section 201 provides for a minimum of one year, extendable up to seven years. Section 66(E) of the Information Technology Act, 2008, entails imprisonment of up to three years.