An update on Prisoner #15528: Prajwal Revanna

After his conviction on 2 August by a special court for elected representatives, Prajwal Revanna, grandson of former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, is now lodged at Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara jail, as prisoner no. 15528.

Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat sentenced Revanna to life imprisonment and also ordered him to pay a fine of Rs 11.60 lakh — of which Rs 11.25 lakh will go to the victim. This for just one of the four cases of sexual assault registered against him.

The opening statement of the 400-page-plus judgement reads: ‘Wherever women are worshipped, divinity resides.’

The special investigation team (SIT) formed by the Karnataka government to look into the allegations of sexual assault had identified 70 survivors, but only four women came forward to file complaints.

Revanna’s conviction was based on the complaint filed by a 47-year-old domestic help on 5 May 2024, in which she accused Revanna of sexual harassment between 2019 and 2021, at the family’s farmhouse in Hassan and his residence in Bengaluru.

Defeated in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Hassan — which he held in 2019 — Revanna fled to Germany a day after the election results and has been in jail ever since his return on 31 May 2024.

Once billed as Deve Gowda’s political heir and endorsed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, Revanna’s conviction marks a significant personal and political setback for the JD(S) patriarch and his party.