As the drama around Prajwal Revanna’s arrest unfolded, the highlight of the entire operation was the execution of the arrest by a five-member women’s squad from the special investigation team (SIT).
The Hassan MP, who has been accused of multiple sexual assaults on multiple women, was arrested and transported from the Bengaluru international airport to the SIT headquarters under the custody of women officers, ranging from the level of superintendent of police to a constable.
The suspended Janata Dal (Secular) leader was transported in an SIT jeep, seated in the back of the vehicle flanked by women officers. The visual of Prajwal sitting with his arms folded around his knees, accosted by senior women officers into the CID headquarters, which is also where the SIT is conducting its investigation, carried powerful messaging.
“This was a conscious move to send an all-women police officer’s team to arrest Prajwal. We want to send a strong message to the victims that the leader, who is said to have exploited his position of power as an MP to force himself on them, will be tried under the law. It also encourages victims to come forward to lodge their complaints so that the case can be built against the accused and tried according to the law of the land,” said a source in the SIT.
The source added that by ensuring a women-led team was handling the investigation, conducting arrests, and recording statements, the women who have been victims may feel empowered to come forward and be convinced that their case will be handled with sensitivity and sympathy.
As soon as Prajwal landed at the Bengaluru airport, having flown in from Munich, Germany, in the early hours of May 31, a special team of women SIT officers led by two senior IPS officers, Suman D Pennekar and Seema Latkar, executed the arrest. They handed him his arrest warrant, and he was later shifted to the special vehicle of the SIT to be taken to its office, where he was kept overnight before being produced in front of a magistrate.
The fugitive MP was escorted out of the Bengaluru Airport by a all women police team , a decision of SIT was a strong positive sign that strong women police force of Karnataka will not only deal with the perpetrator but send a strong message to the hundreds of women whose modesty…— Bhaskar Rao ( MODI KA PARIWAAR) (@Nimmabhaskar22) May 31, 2024
Prajwal will also be questioned by an all-women police team of officers, confirmed another source in the SIT. The SIT currently has a total of 20 women police officers of various ranks who are part of the investigation.
“This also helps in building trust and confidence among the victims who have until now been afraid to lodge an FIR against this MP, who they believe comes from a politically powerful family,” said the source from the SIT. As of now, the SIT has registered FIRs filed by various victims who have alleged that the MP sexually and mentally abused them, often using political clout or brute force to exploit them.
The official also added that the women officers leading the investigation are able to convincingly speak to other victims of these heinous crimes and are slowly able to persuade others to come forward with their experiences and record their statements on how they were exploited by the leader.
The SIT, set up by the Karnataka government on April 28, was established soon after the first FIR was filed in Holenarsipura, the bastion of the Revanna family in Hassan, by a former house help who accused the MP of molestation. Within days, on May 1, another victim, who was also a JD(S) worker, filed a second FIR accusing Prajwal of raping her over two years and threatening of dire consequences if she revealed it.
The drama around the case continued to unfold when, on the next day (May 2), the son of another house help in the Revanna family filed a case of kidnapping and criminal intimidation against Prajwal’s father, HD Revanna. The son claimed that his mother was kidnapped and kept in a confined location to prevent her from speaking to the police.
This victim’s video went viral, where she is seen and heard pleading to be spared from sexual assault. Her video was among the 3,000 clips that were circulated on pen drives across Hassan just before the Lok Sabha seat went to polls on April 26. The woman miraculously escaped from captivity and later informed the police that she was told she was being held there as the authorities were looking for her in a case of “bogus voting”. After her escape, she filed a case of rape with the SIT.
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