First verdict in rape cases against Prajwal Revanna expected on July 30

The trial in one of the four cases of sexual abuse and rape against Prajwal Revanna, former Hassan MP, concluded on July 18 and orders were reserved for July 30.

The case concerns a 48-year-old woman who was working as a help at the family’s Gannikada farmhouse in Hassan and was allegedly raped twice and the act recorded by the accused on his mobile phone.

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She was allegedly abducted at the behest of Prajwal’s parents, former Minister H.D. Revanna and Bhavani Revanna, to prevent her from testifying against their son after the scandal broke out in April, 2024. She was rescued from a farmhouse in K.R. Nagar by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by B.K. Singh, Additional Director-General of Police (ADGP), Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

The trial in the rape case against Prajwal started in the Special Court of Sessions for criminal cases against former present MPs and MLAs on May 2, 2025, and the trial was completed with daily hearings in just over two months.

Senior advocates Ashok Nayak and B.N. Jagadeesha were special public prosecutors in the case. Justice Santosh Gajanan Bhat presided over the trial and is expected to deliver the verdict on Wednesday (July 30, 2025).

The SIT filed a 1,632-page charge sheet with 113 witnesses in the case in September, 2024. Prajwal was booked under Sections 376(2)(k) (being in a position of control or dominance over a woman, commits rape on such woman), 376(2)(n) (repeated rape on the same woman) of the Indian Penal Code, and 66E (violation of privacy) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, among other sections.

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The charge sheet alleges that the victim was raped by the accused twice in 2021 — once at the family’s Hassan residence and a few days later at the family’s Bengaluru residence.

The accused allegedly recorded the video in the first instance. In the video, recovered by the SIT, the victim is reportedly seen resisting the advances and crying and breaking down. Though Prajwal’s face is not visible in the video, forensic analysis report indicates that it was him in the video. Moreover, the victim had kept her saris in a wardrobe where she was working and analysis found Prajwal’s DNA on one of them. These form key evidences in the case, sources said.