Trouble seems to be mounting for former Minister and JD(S) leader H. D. Revanna. He has now been booked for kidnapping one of the alleged victims of sexual abuse by his son Prajwal Revanna, who is the MP of Hassan and the candidate of the BJP-led NDA in this Lok Sabha election.
The alleged victim earlier worked as a maid in H. D. Revanna’s household for six years. A video of her being ‘raped’ by Prajwal Revanna is in circulation, police sources said.
The FIR was registered hours before the anticipatory bail plea of H.D. Revanna comes up for hearing in the Special Court for People’s Representatives in Bengaluru on May 3. Mr. Revanna was earlier booked for sexual harassment based on the complaint of another former maid in his house. He has sought anticipatory bail in that case. He skipped the summons to appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on May 2 for questioning.
At present, police teams are making all-out efforts to track down the ‘kidnapped woman’ . She was allegedly kidnapped to prevent her from testifying against Prajwal Revanna, who allegedly raped her, police said.
How son came to suspect that his mother might have been kidnapped
A complaint was lodged by the woman’s 20-year-old son at K. R. Nagar Police Station in Mysuru district on the night of May 2 alleging that his mother, who figures in a video of being ‘raped’ by Prajwal Revanna despite pleading with him to spare her, was coerced into accompanying Satish Babanna on the night of April 29. She has been incommunicado since then.
The complainant stated that his mother worked as a maid at H. D. Revanna’s house in Holenarasipur and in their farm for six years. She left the job and returned to her village three years ago.
According to the complaint, Satish Babanna is a resident of K. R. Nagar in Mysuru. He is known to the family. He came to their house some days before the Lok Sabha election (on April 26), and took his mother to Holenarasipur saying H.D. Revanna’s wife Bhavani Revanna has summoned her.
“Babanna dropped my mother at our house on the morning of the polling (April 26). He told my parents not to tell anything to the police if they came to our house. He threatened us that we will be booked in a case and told us to alert him if the police came by,” according to the complaint.
On April 29, Satish Babanna came to their house again around 9 p.m . “He told us that if my mother is caught by the police, a case would be registered and all of us will go to jail. He claimed that H. D. Revanna had told him to bring my mother to him. He forced my mother into accompanying him on his bike,” according to the complainant.
On May 1, the complainant learnt through his friends and two brothers-in-law that ‘a video of his mother being raped by Prajwal Revanna’ was being circulated. “They told me that despite my mother pleading to be spared, Prajwal Revanna had raped her,” he claimed.
“I called Satish Babanna and asked him to bring back my mother. But he brought up an old altercation between Prajwal Revanna and others in which a photo had come up showing my mother with a stick. He told me that now, I had to get her out on bail,” he said.
At this point, the son suspected that his mother might have been kidnapped
“Satish Babanna, on the instructions of H. D. Revanna, has kidnapped my mother. He is holding her illegally at an undisclosed location. There is threat to her life. I request the police to rescue her and take action against the two of them,” the complainant said.
