BENGALURU: The special court on Friday rejected the anticipatory bail petition filed by Bhavani Revanna, mother of rape accused MP Prajwal Revanna and wife of MLA HD Revanna. Bhavani too is an accused in the kidnapping case registered by the son of a victim of sexual assault at the KR Nagar police station in Mysuru district.
Referring to the statements of the victim, her sister and witnesses produced by the prosecution to corroborate the fact that Bhavani had played a specific overt role, Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat of the special court for MPs/MLAs said the prosecution made out a prima facie case in which Bhavani is not entitled to anticipatory bail.
Referring to the materials produced by Special Public Prosecutor BN Jagadeesha, the court noted that the victim had run away from the farmhouse of accused No. 7 Rajagopal where she was confined and was threatened with death or grievous hurt to her son. This would indicate that the victim was abducted and kept under detention, the court said.
The accused Satish Babanna took her saying ‘Revanna Sahebru’ was calling, but reached Bhavani’s house in KR Nagar where Bhavani hurled abuses at the victim and asked Satish to take her to a safe, secluded place. The victim gave a statement before the Magistrate under Section 164 of CrPC that she was detained at the farmhouse, it added.
The materials also disclosed that Satish took away the victim’s mobile phone and threw it away at the instance of Bhavani. The prosecution has invoked Section 120-B of IPC (conspiracy), which would be considered circumstantial evidence, and has made out a strong prima facie case, it said.
Tip of an iceberg: SPP
Quoting the SPP’s arguments that this case is only the tip of an iceberg and there are several victims who would not come forward to file the complaint, the court observed that it should always balance the rights of the parties with that of a promise of a fair trial to the accused and complainant.
Auto-recorded conversations lands Bhavani in trouble?
Arguing that custodial interrogation of Bhavani is required, the SPP stated before the court that Bhavani was in continuous contact with accused Satish Babanna through the mobile of her driver and with the other accused Rajagopal in whose farmhouse the victim was confined. Rajagopal’s mobile phone had auto-recorded the conversation and data has been retrieved, the SPP added.