Politics over the sex scandal, allegedly involving Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna, is getting more intense by the day. There is no letup in the political slugfest even after the curtains came down on the fiercely fought Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka, although four phases of polling remain in other parts of the country.
Allegations and counter-allegations are flying thick and fast, vitiating the atmosphere. The fairness of the probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) is being questioned; JDS is accusing Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar of being responsible for circulating the videos and compromising the privacy of several women, and has appealed to the Governor to advise the chief minister to drop him from the ministry; BJP-JDS are demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI); Congress is accusing the regional party of trying to divert the attention from the main case and the BJP of shielding the accused and launching a witch hunt against its leaders.
Meanwhile, many audio clips and cases registered earlier against the dramatis personae are tumbling out of the closet. It’s turning out to be a free-for-all. Leaders cutting across party lines – including those from the party in power in the state – are trying to make their points and trading charges with each other.
In an election rally in Shivamogga, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that 400 women were raped. From where did he get this number? Was it just election rhetoric? Did he or his party provide that information to the SIT probing the case? Won’t such comments from top leaders impact the probe?
Not just Congress, the JDS and BJP, too, must refrain from politicising the case, while they have every right to continue their fight for justice.
It is not correct to cast aspersions on SIT officers or their ability to take the case to its logical end. They are handling a highly sensitive case that involves the privacy of several women and their families, besides the members of a prominent political family and a party. The government and the Home Department must do everything to ensure that the probe is fair as punishing the guilty and doing justice to the victims is more important than the politics surrounding it, which will go on.
Former DG&IGP ST Ramesh says that the SIT has to separate the grain from the chaff. It is a sensitive case bound to create a lot of noise, reactions, opinions, and responses from various political parties, individuals and civil society. The purpose of the investigation is to find out the truth and collect evidence to support the truth.
They have to collect oral, documentary, circumstantial, forensic, and electronic evidence, and if a rape case is made out prima facie, the medical evidence as well. All the noise around the case may die down after six months, but if the case comes up before the court for hearing in due course, the Investigating Officer has to justify the investigation. By and large, the system has enough checks and balances to ensure that there is no major deviation from fair investigation, says the former IPS officer.
As new cases are being booked and arrests are made, those in power must also take note of the serious observations made by the National Commission for Women (NCW). The commission has red-flagged the pressure on a woman victim to file a complaint against the JDS leader.
Three individuals dressed in civil uniform, introducing themselves as Karnataka police officials, were allegedly forcing her to file a false complaint in the case. The commission has further stated that the woman was getting calls from random phone numbers threatening her to file a complaint. This is a serious matter.
Along with the SIT, the NCW and the State Women’s Commission must do everything they can to help the women get justice and those accused of committing heinous crimes against women duly punished. Those in power in the state must ensure that citizens have trust in the system and the probe. It shouldn’t reach a stage when everything is looked at only from the point of party politics.