Ex-MP Prajwal Revanna sentenced to life imprisonment in rape case

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Aug 2, 2025: A special court for MPs/MLAs has sentenced Prajwal Revanna, former JD (S) MP from Hassan in Karnataka, to life imprisonment in the rape case. Special court judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat has also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh.

On Friday, the special court had convicted Prajwal for offences under IPC sections 376(2)(k), (2)(n), 354-A, 354-B, 354-C, 506, 201 and section 66(E) of Information Technology (IT) Act.

The case pertains to the sexual assault of a woman, 48, who worked as a maid at the Gannikada guest house in Hassan, which belongs to the Revanna family.

Prajwal had also recorded the act on his mobile phone. This is the first of the four cases of sexual harassment registered against Prajwal. The victim had stated in her statement as well as in her deposition before the court that she was raped twice in 2021—once at Gannikada guest house and a few days later at the Bengaluru house.

Earlier, during the argument on the quantum of punishment, the prosecutors said the convict deserves a maximum punishment since the brutal act was done by him as a parliamentarian, as he was at the time of the incident in 2021.

The prosecutors also requested the court to impose exemplary cost on Prajwal and a major portion of it should be awarded to the victim as she is from a humble background. The victim was working as a maid servant and had even thought of ending her life after the videos surfaced in public.

On the other hand, the advocate for Prajwal requested the court to take a lenient view considering the fact that he was elected as a MP at a very young age and has been in judicial custody since his arrest in May 2024. The advocate said the videos were leaked deliberately at the time of elections in 2024 while no allegations were made when he was a sitting MP.