Global manhunt for Indian lawmaker accused of videotaping hundreds of rapes

An Indian lawmaker whose party is allied with the country’s prime minister has reportedly fled to Germany amid allegations he sexually abused or raped up to 400 women.

Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of former Indian Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, reportedly fled after thousands of flash drives were left in public places such as parks and bus stops last month in the southern state of Karnataka, where Revanna holds office. According to the information, the drives contained videos that allegedly showed the abuse that Revanna had filmed herself The times.

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The Janata Dal (Secular) party, or JDS, which is allied with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), suspended Revanna last week over the allegations. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the allegations has reportedly asked Interpol for help in finding the 33-year-old, who allegedly left the country on a diplomatic passport.

An official from Revanna’s office has denied the alleged assaults and claimed the footage was doctored.

The scandal erupted during India’s six-week-long general election, with opposition figures using the turmoil to attack Modi and his party. “This is not a sex scandal, it is a mass rape,” Rahul Gandhi, a member of the opposition Indian National Congress, said at a rally last week. Gandhi also accused Modi of “supporting a mass rapist” and claimed that Modi and his party were in league with Revanna despite knowing about the allegations.

In a police complaint, a woman who worked for Revanna alleged that she was sexually abused by both the lawmaker and his father HD Revanna, a member of the Karnataka state assembly. The senior politician, who has denied the claims, was arrested on Saturday in connection with the alleged kidnapping of a maid who was reportedly being held captive in a farmhouse to stop her from testifying against his son.

A woman who claims to have been a victim of the younger Revanna said in a police report that she was assaulted by him for over three years. She also claimed he was recording the attacks and threatened to post them on social media if she spoke about the incidents.

“As he was keeping these videos, he video-called me and asked me to take off my clothes,” the woman alleged. “He also raped me several times.” She added that she had previously not reported Revanna out of fear but had now decided to do so after the SIT was formed.

In his own complaint, filed before his apparent disappearance, Revanna reportedly said the videos circulated were manipulated and were being shared to “tarnish his image and poison the minds of voters.”

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