Amid the Lok Sabha elections, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that he has ordered for a Special Investigative Team (SIT) to probe allegations of sexual abuse against Prajwal Revanna, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate and grandson of JDS chief HD Deve Gowda, who is seeking re-election to the Hassan Lok Sabha seat, reports The News Minute.
Amid the allegations, Prajwal has reportedly fled to Germany.
The decision to form the SIT was made two days after Nagalakshmi Choudhary, chairperson of the State Women’s Commission, wrote to the CM and the state police chief regarding the accusations against Prajwal. He has been embroiled in controversy after several sex videos allegedly featuring him with multiple women surfaced recently.
Siddaramaiah said in a post on X late Saturday night, “The government has decided to form a special investigation team in connection with Prajwal Revanna’s obscene video case.”
Obscene video clips are circulating in Hassan district, where it appears that women have been sexually assaulted, the chief minister said.
“In this background, the Chairperson of the Women’s Commission (Dr Nagalakshmi Chowdhary) had written a letter to the government to conduct an SIT investigation. This decision has been taken in response to their request,” Siddaramaiah added.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, members of the Congress women’s wing staged a protest in Bengaluru, demanding the immediate arrest Prajwal. Protesters raised slogans against the 33-year-old and burnt his posters. They called for a thorough inquiry into the case, reports PTI.
A Congress leader demanded Revanna’s immediate arrest, saying , “He should be given severe punishment and should be hanged for what he has done with these women. It has brought down the honour of the entire state of Karnataka.”
Meanwhile, Prajwal on Sunday filed a complaint claiming that the videos have being doctored, reports NDTV.
He alleged that the videos are being circulated to “tarnish his image and poison the minds of voters.”