Prajwal Revanna Scandal ‘Whistleblower’ Devaraje Gowda Booked For Sexual Harassment

Devaraje Gowda had claimed of writing to the BJP central leadership about the Prajwal Revanna case even as the Karnataka BJP unit has dismissed his claims as "patently false."

Karnataka BJP leader Devaraje Gowda, the purportedly ‘whistleblower’ who claimed to have flagged the infamous Prajwal Revanna sex scandal to the party’s leadership last year, has been booked for sexual harassment in Holenarasipura town of the state’s Hassan district.

Police said an FIR has been registered against Gowda based on the complaint of a woman who has alleged she was physically harassed and threatened by the BJP leader and other accused.

Gowda has been booked under sections 354 (A), 354C, 448, 504, 506, 34 of the IPC and 66(E) of the Information Technology Act, 2008. The offences include assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage modesty, sexual harassment, voyeurism, house trespass, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace and criminal intimidation, police said.

The complaint against Gowda was filed on April 1 while the alleged crime occurred on February 4 at the victim’s house in Holenarasipura town of Hassan. The FIR has named three others in the case apart from Deveraje Gowda.

Earlier on May 6, Devaraje Gowda attacked the ruling Congress government in Karnataka accusing it of “trying to frame BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi” in the Prajwal Revanna case. However, the Congress has trashed these allegations as a “bundle of lies”.

Gowda also claimed that the Karnataka government is attempting to suppress evidence and manipulate the investigation, describing the SIT as “remote-controlled” by the state government.

Earlier, Devaraje Gowda had claimed of writing to the BJP central leadership about the Prajwal Revanna case even as the Karnataka BJP unit has dismissed his claims as “patently false.”

Prajwal Revanna, the suspended Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leader is the incumbent MP from the Hassan constituency. He is seeking re-election as an NDA candidate from the same seat. Polling on the seat was completed on April 26.

Prajwal and his father, HD Revanna, are facing a probe by a Special Investigative Team (SIT), constituted by the Karnataka government, over allegations of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation following a complaint by a woman who worked in their household.

Revanna senior, who was arrested by the SIT on May 4,  has been sent to judicial custody until May 14 in a kidnapping case linked to the sex tapes case while his son remains at large after fleeing the ,country

(With ANI inputs)