Prominent Indian ex-MP gets life sentence for rape

A court in southern India has sentenced a prominent politician in the state of Karnataka to life in prison after being found guilty of raping one of his domestic staff.

The sentencing of Prajwal Revanna, who is from an influential political family in the state, took place on Saturday – a day after he was convicted of sexually assaulting his former employee.

The allegations against the 34-year-old former Indian MP first came to light in 2023 after hundreds of explicit videos featuring him started circulating on social media, causing outrage across the country.

Revanna had denied the charges. On Friday, he broke down and pleaded for a lesser punishment when he was found guilty.

He can appeal against the sentence.

Revanna is a grandson of former Indian Prime Minister, H D Deve Gowda, whose Janata Dal (Secular) party is allied with current Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP.

It is rare that a person with such an influential political background gets punished in a case like this in India.

Revanna left India in April 2024 using his diplomatic passport after hundreds of videos of alleged abuse began circulating in his state.

At the time, Revanna did not comment on the videos, but an official from his office said the videos had been doctored.

He was arrested a month later after arriving back home from Germany.

He is still facing two other rape cases and one case of sexual harassment. He denies the charges.