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It is said he wept after his conviction, that he begged the judge to go easy on him, that he was innocent, a victim of a “political conspiracy”, that he was only 34, a good student.

Unmoved, justice Santosh Gajanan Bhat sentenced Prajwal Revanna, the former member of Parliament (MP) from Hassan, Karnataka, to life imprisonment for his crime of raping an employee, a 48-year-old woman, hired as a labourer by his family on a salary of ₹10,000 and a bag of rice a month.

Life imprisonment meant the remainder of his natural life, the judge clarified. Prajwal, often seen sporting diamond solitaire studs in the past, has also been asked to pay ₹11.6 lakh as a fine, of which ₹11.25 lakh will go to the survivor.

Prajwal is no ordinary criminal. He was standing trial in a special court set up for elected representatives. His grandfather, HD Deve Gowda is a former prime minister of India. His father, HD Revanna is an MLA and a former minister. His uncle, HD Kumaraswamy is a former chief minister of Karnataka. His mother, Bhavani Revanna is a former member of the zila panchayat and his brother, Sooraj is an MLC.

Janata Dal (Secular), the party founded by Deve Gowda, is a coalition partner of the BJP. During the 2024 general election, just days before Prajwal’s crimes went viral, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had personally campaigned for........

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