After Prajwal Revanna's arrest, Congress tells PM Modi to break silence, promise victims justice

Prajwal Revanna. File Photos

Following the arrest of Prajwal Revanna, who is suspected of sexual abuse, the Congress questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" on the issue on Saturday, claiming that he has "failed" to give women justice over the past ten years.

A Bengaluru Police squad had arrested and suspended Janata Dal (Secular) MP Revanna on his return from Germany, and he was charged with sexual abuse. On Friday, he was placed under arrest again. He was placed under arrest by the police until June 6 by a special court in Bengaluru.
Shortly after arriving in Bengaluru after midnight from Germany, Revanna was taken into custody by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the early hours of Friday. He departed the nation on April 27.

Alka Lamba, the head of the All India Mahila Congress, attacked Modi for "allowing" Revanna to escape in the first place, claiming that permitting a "mass rapist" to leave is "Modi ki Guarantee". She added that the SIT, which the state government established, had detained Revanna, the member of parliament from Hassan in Karnataka, and that a female police team from the SIT had carried out the arrest. "We congratulate the Karnataka government," Lamba said. "Narendra Modi kept raising the 'Beti Bachao' slogan, but did not break his silence on Prajwal Revanna," she told a press conference at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters here. According to Lamba, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wrote to Modi about the situation pleading for the Centre's assistance but received no response. The chief minister had to write to Modi again after 21 days, asking him to bring Revanna back to the country.

"This shows how serious Modi was about the Prajwal Revanna case," Lamba said.
She said the possibility of pressure being put on victims and witnesses still exists and "we urge the prime minister to break his silence and assure that there would be no tampering with evidence and justice will be ensured to our daughters".
The Congress leader also cited the case of a Dalit girl being "raped" in Madhya Pradesh and the perpetrators of the crime allegedly being Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders. "In this case, first the victim's brother, then the victim's uncle were killed. Finally, the victim also died by falling off an ambulance while bringing back her uncle's mortal remains," she said about the incidents that have taken place in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar. "In the last five months, 12,000 cases of rape and sexual harassment of women, including 1,644 girls, have come to light in Rajasthan," Lamba said, hitting out at the BJP. She said that in Sidhi, Madhya Pradesh, around twenty-five tribal women and students had been sexually assaulted."It is unfortunate that in the last 10 years, Narendra Modi has failed to provide justice to our daughters," Lamba alleged. "Break your silence as it encourages the perpetrators of such crimes," she said.

Revanna (33), the grandson of JD(S) supremo and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, arrived in Bengaluru from Munich, Germany, on Friday, eluding summonses and leaving the country for slightly over a month. However, a few minutes later, the SIT detained Revanna and took him away for questioning.
Earlier, Revanna had promised to appear before the SIT on Friday in a video message. He was then brought before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate K N Shivakumar, who heard the JD(S) leader's objections and the remand motion from Revanna's attorney before remanding him in police custody.
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara claimed that the NDA's candidate for the Lok Sabha election from Hassan, who is accused of sexually abusing multiple women, was detained following the conclusion of the legal procedure.

In the initial complaint filed against him on April 28 at the Holenarasipura Town police station in Hassan, Prajwal Revanna is charged with harassing a 47-year-old former maid sexually. In the case, he is identified as the second accused; the prime accused is his father, local MLA H D Revanna. Prajwal Revanna has so far been booked in three cases of sexual assault. There are also charges of rape against him.

In light of the accusations of sexual abuse against him, the Karnataka government had requested that Revanna's diplomatic passport be revoked. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had served him with a show-cause notice. Deve Gowda had recently issued a "stern warning" to his grandson, asking him to return to the country and face the probe into the allegations, while asserting that there will be no interference from him or other family members into the enquiry.
The JD(S) supremo had reiterated that his grandson should be given the harshest punishment under the law "if found guilty".

In response to the accusations, Prajwal Revanna has been suspended by the JD(S). Last month, Modi declared that there should be no room for someone such as Prajwal Revanna, and he blamed the Congress government in Karnataka for permitting the JD(S) MP to leave the nation and be released.

(With Inputs from PTI)