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Date(s) - July 3, 2024 - July 30, 2024
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Prajwal Revanna videos in public domain caused ignominy to women: Karnataka HC The Karnataka High Court made the observation while hearing a plea filed to quash a case lodged by Prajwal Revanna’s election agent alleging a political vendetta behind the release of the videos.

The distribution of explicit sex videos of Prajwal Revanna, the rape accused former Janata Dal (Secular) MP for Hassan, has portrayed every woman in a bad light, the Karnataka High Court has observed.

A single-judge bench of the court made the observation on Monday while hearing a petition to quash a case lodged by Prajwal Revanna’s election agent alleging a political vendetta behind the distribution of videos of the former MP. The petition was filed by one Sharath G, accused of leaking the videos.

“I tell you one thing whether you have done it or not. Any person who has done it has done a sin. Any person who has done it has portrayed every woman in a poor light. The most dangerous thing any person has done is that,” the bench observed. “You do not know the circumstances under which they have happened and you have portrayed every woman in a bad light.”

The court was informed by Sharath’s advocate that there was no material to link him to the distribution of the sex videos and that the allegations were part of a political vendetta.

“Let it be political vendetta but a man is not going to lose anything. It is the woman who will be subjected to ignominy,” the court observed while adjourning the matter and asking the accused to seek bail to prevent his arrest.

The additional special public prosecutor submitted that a special investigation team (SIT) inquiring into the rape cases against the former Hassan MP had found from a digital video recorder that Sharath was a key person from whose place the pen drives (of the explicit videos) had been copied and distributed.

“We have recovered a DVR from his place and a tablet. The investigation has found that the pen drives were distributed from his place. Other accused have been rejected anticipatory bail by the coordinate bench of the court,” the prosecutor argued.

Anticipatory bail denied for accused in video leak case
On May 28, the SIT, arrested Naveen Gowda, 34, and Chethan Kumar B C, 32, who were absconding in the video leak case. They were arrested while leaving the high court after a hearing of their anticipatory bail pleas.

Apart from the two arrested men and Sharath, the others accused in the case of the leak and distribution of the sex tapes are Karthik N, 40, a former car driver of the Prajwal Revanna and H V Puttaraju, 50, a Congress worker, who are elusive.

A police complaint was filed by Poornachandra Tejasvi, the election agent for Prajwal Revanna, on April 23 about the distribution of obscene videos in the Hassan constituency ahead of the April 26 Parliament polls in the region.

A district court in Hassan rejected the anticipatory bail plea of the accused on May 8 on the grounds that the spread of the videos with the images of local women amounted to the violation of privacy and dignity and caused embarrassment.

The accused men, some of whom have identified themselves as Congress workers in Hassan, are at the centre of the scandal involving Prajwal Revanna, who is accused of sexually assaulting three women from the Hassan region.

The incidents of sexual assault came into the public domain after pen drives and CDs were distributed anonymously in Hassan around four to five days ahead of the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress government set up an SIT to investigate the alleged sexual assaults involving the then MP as well as people involved with the distribution of the videos.

Behind the leak of the videos, JD(S) leaders like Prajwal Revanna’s uncle and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy have alleged a Congress conspiracy to finish off their party.

One of the accused in the video leak case, Karthik is alleged to have accessed the explicit videos from electronic devices belonging to Prajwal Revanna while employed as his driver. They fell out over a property dispute in March 2023.

“Such actions, which target voiceless, helpless, and innocent women, not only bring embarrassment to them but also compel them to face the disconcerting situation in the society in their entire life having not committed any sin but at the instances of vested interests,” the district court judge noted in the May 8 order rejecting anticipatory bail.