Bengaluru, 29 April

The Congress on Monday held protests in Karnataka demanding the immediate arrest of Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, who is facing allegations of sexually abusing hundreds of women.

Congress workers -- with women members joining in large numbers -- took to the streets in Hubballi, Hassan and Bengaluru, among other places, seeking action against the 33-year-old grandson of JD(S) chief and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda.

In Bengaluru, the protest was led by All India Mahila Congress President Alka Lamba outside the office of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. Lamba said the horrifying case of sexual violence against hundreds of women has shocked the nation. "More than 3,000 videos with hundreds of women being sexually harassed, violated and even brutalised by MP Prajwal Revanna over the past few years have shaken the conscience of Kannadigas and Indians alike," she said.

The Congress government in Karnataka on Sunday constituted a Special Investigation Team to investigate the allegations against the Hassan MP and Lok Sabha poll candidate after several videos of Revanna allegedly sexually abusing women came into the public domain.

The explicit video clips allegedly involving Prajwal started making the rounds in Hassan in recent days. The JD(S) joined the NDA in September last year.

Prajwal is the NDA candidate in Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, which went to the polls on 26 April. According to police sources, he fled the country after voting was over as the videos began surfacing.

The Karnataka government started an SIT investigation after a letter by Chairperson of Women’s Commission Dr Nagalakshmi Chowdhary to the government regarding the sexual abuse of hundreds of women allegedly by Revanna.

The three-member SIT of IPS officers is led by the Additional Director General of Police (CID) Bijay Kumar Singh, while the other two members are Assistant Inspector General of Police Suman D Pennekar and Mysuru Superintendent of Police Seema Latkar. The SIT has been directed to complete its investigation swiftly.