Prajwal Revanna's brother Suraj arrested for alleged sexual assault of JD(S) employee

Suraj Revanna, a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council, was arrested on Sunday, June 23, less than 24 hours after he was jailed for allegedly sexually assaulting a Janata Dal (Secular) party member.

Suraj allegedly assaulted the man on June 16, at his family's farmhouse at Gannikada in Channapatna taluk. The Hassan police booked him under sections 377 (unnatural sex), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 342 (wrongful confinement).

The accusation against Suraj, who is a doctor, comes against the backdrop of the arrest and investigation of his younger brother Prajwal Revanna for sexually assaulting at least four women. His father HD Revanna was accused of sexually harassing a woman, and his father and mother were accused of kidnapping one of the women Prajwal allegedly sexually assaulted.

The complainant had given an interview to a Kannada television channel on Friday evening, in which he detailed the alleged assault. A day later, on Saturday, he lodged a complaint with the Holenarasipura rural police station.

On Saturday, Suraj spoke to the media and said that there was a conspiracy against him. “This is completely a political conspiracy against me. Let them do what they want. There is a law and it will decide. There is an FIR registered against this man. The investigation will take place and the truth will come out. I believe in the law. It’s a real political conspiracy but I will not react, an investigation is underway and the truth will come out,” he said.

On June 22, a staff member of Suraj had filed a complaint against the complainant, alleging extortion. Suraj's uncle and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy distanced himself from the allegations and told the media that the law would take its course.