Bengaluru: It took a special court just over 15 months to convict and sentence former Lok Sabha MP Prajwal Revanna in one of the three rape cases that he is facing.
The 34-year grandson of ex-Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, found guilty of repeatedly raping a 47-year-old domestic help, also has a sexual harassment case against him.
One of the most decisive pieces of evidence that helped the special court in the swift conviction in the case was the rape survivor’s saree.
Tucked away in the attic of a farmhouse, the saree turned out to be an important forensic evidence that led to his conviction.
According to investigators, Prajwal forcibly took the woman’s saree after the act of rape.
In a big blunder, Prajwal hid the saree in his farmhouse instead of destroying it, confident that it will not be discovered or traced back to him.
It proved to be a serious miscalculation as investigators found out from the survivor that Prajwal didn’t give her back the saree she was wearing at the time of the assault. The woman told the officers that the saree could still be in the farmhouse.
Taking the cue, police raided the farmhouse and found the saree in the attic.
It was then sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory, which confirmed the presence of semen. DNA analysis matched it to Prajwal, thereby providing physical evidence.
Investigators said that the saree, along with the survivor’s detailed statement, were pivotal to building the prosecution’s case against Prajwal.
