Devaraje Gowda: From sex scandal whistleblower to sex offence accused

With twists and turns that can put a crime thriller to shame, the Hassan sex scandal, in its latest development, has had the whistleblower himself sent behind bars under two-fold charges of sexual abuse and revelation of the identities of the female victims of the scandal.

Devaraje Gowda, an advocate and BJP leader, was the first to bring to light the alleged misdeeds of JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, who is accused of raping scores of women and filming them in the act. Gowda was apparently also the one who warned the saffron party earlier this year against forging an alliance with the JD(S) considering the Hassan MP’s allegedly perverted actions.

However, since then, Gowda’s role in the filthy scandal, which has taken the state by storm, was fraught with contradictory statements and actions — until his own arrest two days back.

Gowda’s conflicting actions

Gowda, on the one hand, has helped bring to the fore the sexual assault saga, as part of which JD(S) MLA and HD Deve Gowda’s son HD Revanna has since been handcuffed and his son Prajwal, the main accused, been on the run.

In the same breath, though, Gowda has accused Congress leader and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar of orchestrating the dramatic revelation of Prajwal’s misconduct by releasing among the public scores of pen drives containing the explicit videos.

History of Gowda’s claims

Gowda had a beef with HD Revanna, as both contested the Holanaresipur constituency in last year’s Karnataka Assembly elections, and Gowda lost to Revanna.

Then, earlier this year, he made a sensational claim — of possessing incriminating footage of Prajwal, provided by the latter’s driver Karthik, in which Deve Gowda’s grandson can be seen having sex with several women. He claimed that there were more than 2,900 videos and he was ready to release them.

Gowda claims to have written a secret letter to BJP’s state unit president BY Vijayendra, too, asking that the party not ally with the JD(S) in view of Prajwal’s conduct. However, these incidents did not garner much media attention and the BJP did go ahead with the alliance with former PM Deve Gowda’s JD(S).

Hassan pen drives

The bolt from the blue came ahead of Karnataka’s first phase (second overall) of Lok Sabha elections on April 26, when thousands of pen drives were found scattered on the streets of Hassan. While Congress claimed it was Gowda who had spread them, he claimed Karthik had given him the pen drive in a sealed cover and he had not opened it. Instead, he first blamed Karthik but soon shifted the blame on DK Shivakumar.

Even as the scandal blew through the roof — with Prajwal fleeing the country, Revanna being arrested, and allegations and counter-allegations flying thick and fast — most forgot about Gowda, until he was picked up by the police on May 10. The allegations against him are two-fold — one, leaking Prajwal’s videos publicly, which exposed the identities of the victims, and two, sexual abuse of a woman.

Complaints against Gowda

The latter case was lodged when a woman went to police with the complaint that Gowda had threatened her and sexually abused her during a video call. She claimed she had contacted Gowda regarding the sale of a plot of land. Based on her complaint, the police registered an FIR. Gowda, too, filed a complaint at Hebbal Police Station in Bengaluru, accusing the victim and her husband of laying out a “honeytrap” for him.

The other complaint was filed by a woman at the Holenaraseepur police station on April 1.

Another complaint was also filed with the Karnataka Bar Council against Gowda in connection with the Hassan pen drive case.

Devaraje Gowda's role in Hassan sex scandal: A timeline

January 11

Gowda issues a statement to the media: “I have some video documents related to MP Prajwal Revanna. It will be released when the time comes. An injunction order was delivered by a court in July 2023 to prevent this video from being shown on social media and in the media.

“I am not releasing the videos because I have respect for HD Deve Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy. In this regard, the case should be settled in court, and then, all the videos will be released. All the documents related to Prajwal Revanna’s case have been submitted to the central BJP leaders…

“Documents related to the illegal wealth of the Revanna family have been collected and the documents will be released publicly in every election.”

May 7

“DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah are the masterminds of this case. I am planning to lodge a complaint with the CBI,” Gowda says before releasing an audio clip in which DK Shivakumar can purportedly be heard speaking.

May 10

Gowda is arrested on a sexual abuse case registered by a woman and also for allegedly distributing the pen drives in Hassan district.

He is charged under IPC Sections 354 (A) (sexual harassment), 354 (C) (voyeurism), 448 (trespassing), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke), and 506 (criminal intimidation), along with Section 66E (violation of privacy) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.