MP Prajwal Revanna arrested, sent to 6-day custody

New Delhi, May 31

Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, accused of sexually exploiting several women, was arrested by a women Special Investigation Team (SIT) team on Friday. Three women officers escorted the MP from the Bengaluru airport after he returned from Germany.

The 42nd Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court sent Revanna to SIT custody for six days. The SIT had asked for 14-day custody. In custody, Revanna’s lawyers will be allowed to meet him for an hour in the morning. Three FIRs have been registered against the MP.

A large number of policemen were deployed at the airport to ensure he was taken safely for investigation. The MP returned to Bengaluru a month after the scandal broke out. He was initially taken into custody by the Central Industrial Security Force personnel, who later handed him over to the SIT.

Post his arrest, Revanna was taken to Bengaluru’s Bowring Hospital for a routine medical check-up, after which he was presented before the court.

Revanna’s lawyer G Arun had suggested that he be sent to one-day custody in the first FIR registered against him in Holenarasipura. Arun cited the four-year delay in filing of the complaint by the victim and the charges of rape being added later to the FIR by a court order. He said the original complaint only had charges of sexual harassment against Revanna.

Revanna being arrested by women was hailed by former Bengaluru police commissioner K Bhaskar Rao.

“The fugitive MP was escorted out of the Bengaluru airport by an all-woman police team. This SIT decision sends out a positive message that the strong women police force of Karnataka will not only deal with the perpetrator, but would also boost confidence of hundreds of women whose modesty was outraged to come forth…Good SIT chief,” former IPS officer Bhaskar Rao tweeted.