Bengaluru, May 3 (IANS): A special court here on Thursday adjourned hearing on the anticipatory bail petition filed by JD-S MLA and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda's son, H.D. Revanna in connection with the case of sexual harassment lodged against him by a woman who used to work in his house as domestic help.
The court for MP/MLA cases posted the matter for Friday after issuing notice to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to file objections to the bail petition by MLA Revanna.
As the court asked counsel for Revanna that even as bailable sections are imposed in the FIR, why is he not directly appearing before the court concerned, counsel responded that though FIR contains bailable sections, a request has been submitted to the trial court to add rape charges.
The details of the submission are not available yet.
Sources stated that the petition had been moved against the backdrop of fear of arrest by the SIT.
JD-S MP Prajwal Revanna, the second accused in this case and son of Revanna, has not filed for anticipatory bail.
Prajwal Revanna’s obscene videos showing sexual harassment and abuse of women have taken the political circles in Karnataka by storm.
Meanwhile, the SIT authorities produced the victim before the judge and got her statement recorded under Section 164 of CrPC.
The Holenarasipura police had registered a case under IPC's Sections 354 (A), (D), 506 and 509 against Revanna and his son Prajwal Revanna based on the complaint by the 47-year-old victim.
The case was transferred to the SIT and probed along with the sex video scandal involving Prajwal Revanna.
The victim had stated that she was a relative of Revanna, and in 2013, after the death of her son, Revanna asked her to come to his house and promised to get her a job.
"I joined his residence. There were six maids at the house and everyone was scared whenever Prajwal Revanna came home. Even the male workers warned women to be careful," she alleged.
“Revanna called me to his room and he used to pull my hand in the storeroom whenever his wife Bhavani Revanna was not around. He used to touch my body on the pretext of giving me fruits. He pulled off my saree pin," the victim alleged.
"Prajwal Revanna came from behind and touched my body and pinched me on the abdomen while I was working in the kitchen. I was called to apply oil and sexually harassed. The accused also tried to have dirty conversations with my daughter and she blocked his numbers," she added.
The victim also stated that she had quit her job following the experience.
She also said that she was scared after watching the obscene videos of women involving Prajwal Revanna and her husband suspected her and asked her what if her video came out. She has also alleged threats to her life in the complaint.
In another development, the Centre on Thursday responded to the letter from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding the cancellation of the diplomatic passport issued to Prajwal Revanna, with MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal telling the state government that the passport could be cancelled only after the order of the court. "Since there is no court order, the diplomatic passport can not be cancelled as per the provisions of the law,"