"We don’t know when she left."
Several women who were allegedly sexually abused by JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna have left their homes in Karnataka’s Hassan district.
This comes due to the stigma they may face after their identities became public when videos of the abuse circulated online.
Revanna is accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of women and filming the abuse.
It is reported that after polling in Hassan on April 26, 2024, Revanna left the country.
His father HD Revanna has since been arrested in connection with the abduction of a woman, allegedly to prevent her from approaching the Special Investigation Team (SIT).
A shopkeeper in Hagare, which is 20km from Hassan, said:
“The entire district is in HD Revanna’s control.
“You speak ill about them and chances are high that it will reach them because the family and the party have a large following.”
The first FIR against Prajwal Revanna was filed by a woman whose family has now left their home.
A neighbour said: “The woman worked at Revanna’s house as a house help.
“Some of her videos started to circulate and then, her house was seen locked. We don’t know when she left.”
In a nearby village, a local JD(S) leader said many women who worked for the party are now incommunicado.
He said: “We noticed many of the party women deleting their photos with Prajwal on social media.
“In some instances, men are questioning their wives about their association with the MP. It is shattering the lives of many women in the district.”
A former zilla panchayat filed a rape case against Revanna, alleging that the politician raped her over three years and the abuse was recorded.
She and her family have since fled their home.
When an SIT team reached Revanna’s residence, party workers outside were talking about the alleged victims.
One said: “I know this woman, she lived close to our residence and was very active in JD(S) activities.
“Her house is locked… she has small children.”
Another said: “She is my neighbour’s relative and attended one of our family functions.”
Hassan is home to a large farmhouse that police say is where Revanna filmed the abuse.
An employee at the property said:
“Prajwal used to come here with friends and party, but we don’t know anything other than that.”
One anonymous police officer said the district intelligence unit was aware of the video clips but didn’t know of the magnitude of the issue.
He added: “The pen drive in question has been doing the rounds before the Karnataka Assembly elections in 2023, but the videos did not come out at the time.”
Revanna obtained a gag order from the Bengaluru civil court on June 1, 2023, against 86 media outlets and three individuals in connection with the video clips.
One individual was local BJP leader G Devaraje Gowda.
Prajwal Revanna’s former driver, Karthik, said that he shared the pen drive with Devaraje Gowda.
The officer added: “In January this year, Devaraje Gowda had called a press conference where it was speculated that he would release the videos, but the press conference was abruptly cancelled.
“Until the videos started to come out, all we knew was there could be a sex video of Prajwal Revanna, but not that this pen drive contained more than 2,900 files involving multiple women.”
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