Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that the case involving Prajwal Revanna, the member of Parliament from Karnataka’s Hassan, is not just a mere ‘sex scandal’ but of “mass rape”.
He also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for forging an alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) [JD(S)] and seeking votes for a “mass rapist”. Follow full coverage of the Lok Sabha elections here.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking votes for a ‘mass rapist’. Prajwal Revanna raped hundreds of women and made their obscene videos,” Gandhi said during a poll rally in Karnataka’s Shivmogga. “And Narendra Modi, from a packed stage, supports that rapist and says: ‘If you vote for this rapist, it will help me.’”
He also accused the prime minister of helping Revanna, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda’s grandson, escape India.
“Even when Prajwal Revanna raped hundreds of women, PM Modi did not stop him from going to Germany,” Gandhi said. “PM Modi has all the machinery, yet he allowed the mass rapist to go to Germany, This is ‘Modi’s guarantee’. Whether it’s a corrupt leader or a mass rapist, the BJP will protect him.”
Prajwal Revanna, the sitting MP from Hassan and the grandson of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, has been accused of being in purported sex tapes. Thousands of pen drives allegedly containing his sexual assault videos were circulated in Hassan, the Lok Sabha constituency from where he is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-JD (S) candidate.
Most of the tapes were allegedly recorded by Prajwal in his house and office. Initially, the Gowda family and the BJP termed the tapes as doctored to malign the image of the family in elections but later, HD Kumaraswamy distanced himself from the tapes saying the police was investigating the case.
The Karnataka government has constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the allegations. Prajwal Revanna claims that the videos were doctored, and left for Frankfurt on the day the Karnataka Police constituted the SIT. He is said to be travelling abroad on his diplomatic passport.
On Tuesday, Revanna was suspended by the party. A lookout circular at all immigration points across India has also been issued against Prajwal Revanna.
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