Bengaluru court extends rape-accused Prajwal's SIT custody by four days

Bengaluru: A Bengaluru court on Thursday extended former Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna’s police custody in the Hassan sex abuse case by four days.

The 42nd Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court remanded the suspended JD(S) leader in the custody of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) until June 10.

The prosecutor representing the SIT sought Prajwal's custody for five more days, citing pending tasks such as conducting mahazar (recreation of the crime scene) and technical analysis. The former MP’s phone still needs be accessed, the prosecutor contended.

The counsel for Prajwal opposed extending the police custody by five days.

Considering arguments from both sides, judge K N Shivakumar extended Prajwal's SIT custody by four days.

Prajwal is accused of raping at least two women, including a former maid in her 60s, and sexually harassing another.

The SIT arrested him in the early hours of May 31 soon after he landed at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport from Munich, Germany. He was produced before a local court on the same day. The court remanded Prajwal in SIT’s custody until June 6.

Prajwal was taken to Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital on Wednesday. Earlier, he was taken to the hospital for a medical examination before the SIT took him into its custody on May 31.

The SIT is probing three separate cases against Prajwal. In the first case filed on April 28 at the Holenarasipura Town police station in Hassan, Prajwal is accused of sexual harassment.

The second case was filed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on May 1, following allegations from a 44-year-old member of the Hassan zilla panchayat that Prajwal had repeatedly raped her.

The third case was registered at Bengaluru’s cybercrime police station on May 8. A woman in her sixties alleged that Prajwal raped her.