Prajwal Revanna sexual harassment case: Woman complainant was under pressure to file 'fake case', claims NCW

The 33-year-old Prajwal Revanna, who was the NDA candidate in the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, reportedly left the country on April 27, a day after the elections, and skipped the SIT summons to appear before it.

In a new development in the alleged case of sexual harassment of women by JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, the National Commission for Women on May 10 said one of the woman complainant was forced to register a “fake case” against the Karnataka leader.

The woman said she was under pressure from three individuals, claiming to be police, to file a fake case. She also sought protection from the individuals as the three were issuing threats, the commission said. NCW also added that the claims of 700 women submitting complaints against the JDS leader was false.

“One woman approached the commission to register a complaint against three individuals, dressed in civilian clothes, allegedly introduced themselves as Karnataka police and forced her to file a false complaint in this case. She stated that she was getting calls from random phone numbers, threatening to file a complaint. It has come to light that this complainant was forced by a group of individuals to file the complaint, under the threat of potential harassment and false implications,” NCW said in a statement.

Soon after the NCW statement, JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy accused the special investigation team of bias and threatening victims to extra fake statements.

SIT said it is yet to contact the woman, who said she registered a complaint against Revanna under pressure, a report by News18 said.

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Meanwhile, the SIT, in its application against the bail plea of Revanna’s father HD Revanna, said the JD(S) leader kidnapped a middle-aged woman to prevent the victim from speaking out, a report by the Indian Express said. HD Revanna was arrested by the SIT and remanded to police custody till May 8. The special court hearing the matter adjourned the case to May 13.

The 33-year-old Prajwal, who was the NDA candidate in the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, reportedly left the country on April 27, a day after the elections, and skipped the SIT summons to appear before it.

Explicit videos of sexual abuse of several women by Prajwal had been doing the rounds on social media based on which the state government formed the SIT on April 28 to probe the case after the Karnataka State Commission for Women wrote a letter to the chief minister Siddaramaiah.

With inputs from PTI.