Congress to PM Modi: Break silence, assure justice after Prajwal Revanna's arrest

New Delhi, Jun 1 (PTI) With sexual-abuse accused Prajwal Revanna's arrest, the Congress on Saturday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" on the matter and claimed that he has "failed" to provide justice to women in the last 10 years.

Suspended Janata Dal (Secular) MP Revanna, facing sexual-abuse allegations, was remanded in police custody on Friday, hours after he was arrested by a Bengaluru Police team on his return from Germany.

A special court in Bengaluru remanded him in police custody till June 6.

Revanna was arrested in the wee hours of Friday by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), minutes after he landed in Bengaluru past midnight from Germany. He had left the country on April 27.

Hitting out at Modi for "allowing" Revanna to flee in the first place, All India Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba said letting a "mass rapist" escape is "Modi ki Guarantee".

Revanna, the member of Parliament from Karnataka's Hassan, has been arrested by the SIT constituted by the state government, she said, adding that this was done by a women police team formed by the SIT.

"We congratulate the Karnataka government," Lamba said.

"Narendra Modi kept raising the 'Beti Bachao' slogan, but did not break his silence on Prajwal Revanna," she told a press conference at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters here.

Lamba said Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wrote to Modi on the matter for help from the Centre but did not get a reply.

The chief minister had to write to Modi again after 21 days, asking him to bring Revanna back to the country.

"This shows how serious Modi was about the Prajwal Revanna case," Lamba said.

She said the possibility of pressure being put on victims and witnesses still exists and "we urge the prime minister to break his silence and assure that there would be no tampering with evidence and justice will be ensured to our daughters".

The Congress leader also cited the case of a Dalit girl being "raped" in Madhya Pradesh and the perpetrators of the crime allegedly being Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.

"In this case, first the victim's brother, then the victim's uncle were killed. Finally, the victim also died by falling off an ambulance while bringing back her uncle's mortal remains," she said about the incidents that have taken place in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar.

"In the last five months, 12,000 cases of rape and sexual harassment of women, including 1,644 girls, have come to light in Rajasthan," Lamba said, hitting out at the BJP.

More than 25 tribal women and students have been raped in Sidhi in Madhya Pradesh, she claimed.

"It is unfortunate that in the last 10 years, Narendra Modi has failed to provide justice to our daughters," Lamba alleged.

"Break your silence as it encourages the perpetrators of such crimes," she said.

After evading summonses and staying out of the country for a little more than a month, Revanna (33), the grandson of JD(S) supremo and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, landed in Bengaluru from Germany's Munich on Friday, only to be arrested by the SIT minutes later and whisked away for questioning.

Revanna had issued a video statement earlier, stating he would appear before the SIT on Friday.

He was subsequently produced before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate K N Shivakumar, who heard the remand application and objection arguments from Revanna's lawyer and remanded the JD(S) leader in police custody.

The NDA's Lok Sabha poll candidate from Hassan, facing allegations of sexually abusing several women, was arrested after the completion of the due process, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said.

In the first case registered against him at the Holenarasipura Town police station in Hassan on April 28, Prajwal Revanna has been accused of sexually harassing a 47-year-old former maid. He is listed as the accused number two in the case, while his father and local MLA H D Revanna is the primary accused.

Prajwal Revanna has so far been booked in three cases of sexual assault. There are also charges of rape against him.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had served a show-cause notice to Revanna, asking him why his diplomatic passport should not be cancelled as sought by the Karnataka government in view of the sexual-abuse charges against him.

Deve Gowda had recently issued a "stern warning" to his grandson, asking him to return to the country and face the probe into the allegations, while asserting that there will be no interference from him or other family members into the enquiry.

The JD(S) supremo had reiterated that his grandson should be given the harshest punishment under the law "if found guilty".

The JD(S) has suspended Prajwal Revanna from the party following the allegations.

Modi had asserted last month that there should be zero tolerance for someone like Prajwal Revanna and accused the Congress government in Karnataka of allowing the JD(S) MP to go out of the country and releasing the incriminating sex videos after the polls were over in the region dominated by Vokkaligas. PTI