Former Janata Dal (Secular) leader and ex-MP Prajwal Revanna was convicted on August 1, 2025, by a Special Court for People’s Representatives in Bengaluru in a landmark rape case filed by a 47-year-old domestic worker employed at the Revanna family farmhouse in KR Nagar, Mysuru, Karnataka. The speedy verdict came just 14 months after the case was registered, making it one of the relatively swift judicial processes involving a politician accused of sexual violence in recent memory.
After the conviction was announced by Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat, Revanna broke down visibly, shedding tears as he left the courtroom. The quantum of punishment is scheduled to be pronounced on August 2. This conviction is the first to be handed down among four separate rape cases and one sexual harassment case pending against him.
Swift Justice in a High-Profile Case
The trial itself began on May 2, 2025, following months of intense investigation by the CID’s Special Investigation Team (SIT). The charges framed against Revanna span various grave offences, including repeated rape under IPC sections 376(2)(k) and 376(2)(n), sexual harassment (354A), disrobing a woman (354B), voyeurism (354C), criminal intimidation (506), destruction of evidence (201), and violation of privacy under Section 66E of the Information Technology Act.
The victim, referred to in court documents as Mridula* to protect her identity, testified that she was raped multiple times at the family’s farmhouse in Hassan and later at their residence in Basavanagudi, Bengaluru, during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2021. The abuse was surreptitiously recorded by Revanna on his mobile phone, further compounding the severity of the offence.
The trial spanned 38 court sittings, including detailed cross-examinations of 26 witnesses and the marking of 180 documents as exhibits. Key forensic evidence was presented, including the analysis of video clips and physical evidence like a saree containing sperm traces preserved by the victim.
Background and Political Reverberations
The background to this case is both politically and socially significant. Prajwal Revanna, grandson of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and former MP representing Hassan, had been suspended from the JD(S) following the public exposure of multiple explicit videos in April 2024 that implicated him in sexual crimes. These videos, reportedly numbering over 2,000 clips, were circulated widely before the Karnataka Lok Sabha elections in 2024, prompting a police investigation and national outrage.
After the scandal broke, Revanna temporarily fled to Germany, only to return in May 2024, when he was arrested by a Special Investigation Team at Bengaluru airport. The SIT’s detailed charge sheet spans nearly 2,000 pages, supported by testimony from more than 100 witnesses. The case attracted intense media scrutiny and political fallout, wrangling the ruling coalitions and spurring discussions on abuse of power and the societal treatment of sexual violence survivors.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The conviction of Prajwal Revanna marks a pivotal moment in the fight against sexual violence, particularly highlighting the necessity for rapid and transparent judicial processes when influential individuals are accused. Society must steadfastly defend the dignity and rights of survivors, dismantle prevailing apathy towards gender-based abuse, and ensure that political influence does not obstruct justice.
This case underlines the urgent need for systemic reforms that empower survivors and foster a cultural shift towards empathy, respect, and equality. As communities, we must ask ourselves: how can we better mandate accountability for those in power, creating an environment where justice is consistently served and survivors receive unwavering support regardless of the accused’s stature
