Prajwal Revanna scheduled to appear before SIT on May 31 to address sexual assault case

Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna is expected to appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on May 31 in connection with the sexual assault case, he reportedly stated in a video.

“I will personally on Friday, May 31 at 10 am will come before the SIT and will cooperate with the investigation and will respond to it (charges). I have faith in court and I am confident I will come out of false cases through court,” Pajwal said in a video statement aired on Kannada TV channel Asianet Suvarna News, PTI reported.

“Let God’s, people’s and family’s blessing be on me. I will surely come before SIT on May 31, Friday. After coming, I will try to put an end to all this. Keep faith in me,” he added. In addition, he apologized to his grandpa, HD Deve Gowda, the former prime minister. The 33-year-old Prajwal, an NDA contender from the Hassan Lok Sabha segment and the grandson of former PM H D Deve Gowda, the founder of the JD(S), is accused of repeatedly assaulting women sexually.

“When elections were held on April 26, there was no case against me and no SIT was formed, my foreign trip was pre-planned. I came to know about the allegations while I was on my trip. Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders started talking about it and a political conspiracy was started against me,” Prajwal said in a video message, apologizing to his grandfather and former prime minister H.D. Devegowda, his uncle and former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and his father and JD(S) MLA H.D. Revanna.

Allegations Amid Sexual Assault Case Controversy

He further said: “Some forces in Hassan have launched a political conspiracy against me and want to end my political career. I had to distance myself. There’s no need to be mistaken. I will come back on the 31st at 10 a.m. to meet the SIT and fully cooperate in the investigation. I believe in the law and the system. I will emerge stronger from all these false allegations against me.”

Additionally, the candidate for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from the Hassan seat stated that he experienced “depression and isolation” following remarks made about his recordings of sexual abuse by Congressman Rahul Gandhi and other prominent figures. “After Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, spread rumours against me, I went into depression, and I isolated myself. A political conspiracy is going on to finish my career, and I will face it,” he added.

The JD(S) leader was shown in various recordings that surfaced last month engaging in what appear to be coercive and non-consensual sexual actions. It seems from the majority of the recordings that he taped women without their consent and under apparent pressure. The administration led by Siddaramaiah established a SIT on April 27 to look into these cases, on the same day he is said to have flown to Germany.

Prajwal was the subject of an arrest warrant issued by a special court on May 18. He has been the target of three FIRs thus far in connection with allegations of sexual assault. A “Blue Corner Notice” was released by Interpol earlier, and lookout circulars were issued by the SIT that the Karnataka government established to investigate the allegations of sexual assault.

Prajwal Revanna said that he will appear in front of SIT on May 31. “At 10 am on May 31, I will attend the SIT probe in Bengaluru and give my full co-operation to the investigation. I have full trust in the judicial system. I will prove myself as innocent in front of the judicial system.”

In a letter dated May 22, Siddaramaiah asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revoke Prajwal’s diplomatic passport. The Karnataka chief minister had already written to Modi on May 1st, according to The Indian Express, requesting that he order the home and external affairs ministries to revoke the diplomatic passport of the Hassan MP.

This follows the issuance of a show-cause notice by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) challenging the validity of his diplomatic passport. Revanna’s grandfather, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, had also requested that Revanna turn himself into the police a few days prior. Last week, Gowda said his grandson should be punished “if found guilty”. The family distanced itself from Revanna soon after the charges surfaced.

He then said, “I can do only one thing. I can issue a stern warning to Prajwal and ask him to return from wherever he is and surrender before the police. He should subject himself to the legal process. This is not an appeal that I am making, it is a warning that I am issuing.”

This election, the matter has become a political hot potato as the Congress accuses the BJP of siding with a “tainted” Member of Parliament and his party. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also come under fire from the opposition for supporting Revanna before the release of the recordings. In addition to denouncing the situation, Modi promised that the offenders would face “severe punishment.”

In the meantime, the BJP has said that the Congress is “allowing” the accused to escape the nation from a state that it controls.

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