One year and two months after Rama (name changed) learned that his mother was raped and that videos of her assault had been watched by people he knew, the conviction of his mother’s attacker Prajwal Revanna neither feels like a victory nor is it the end of the stigma they face. He does, however, feel some measure of peace that Prajwal Revanna has been convicted of raping his mother.
Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda’s son Prajwal Revanna is accused of sexually assaulting five women, including Rama’s mother Mridula (name changed). The allegations came to light a week ahead of the Parliamentary elections last April.
The state government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by BK Singh. Survivors’ testimonies are crucial in cases of sexual assault, but the SIT was faced with the challenging task of compiling additional evidence to connect the faceless attacker in the videos to Prajwal Revanna.
Mridula’s case went to trial in May this year before the Special Court for elected representatives in Bengaluru. The trial concluded on July 18, but the court reserved its verdict for July 30, and sought more documents before pronouncing the verdict on Friday, August 1. It convicted Prajwal Revanna for rape and recording the videos of the alleged assault.
“I was at work. Someone told me about it, so I came home and watched the news,” 24-year-old Rama told TNM over phone from Mysuru district, where he lives.
Asked what he felt when he heard the news, he simply said, “We got justice. We went through so much. For going through such hardship, we got justice.”
When asked how his family of six—his parents, grandmother, and two sisters—got through the past year, Rama interrupted, “One year and two months.”
When Mridula spoke to TNM in May 2024 about how she was assaulted and why she never spoke up, she said many things had weighed on her mind. “I had unmarried daughters. Who would marry them if they came to know that I was raped? Who would believe me? I don’t think I would have been able to live if I had shared this at home earlier.”
Now, Rama said, his mother has changed. “After seeing what has happened in the past year, she no longer believes that it was her fault.”
However, the massive public support in the past year for the women that Prajwal Revanna allegedly raped does not seem to have influenced Rama’s neighbours and acquaintances.
“People still talk as if she has done something wrong. Our relatives don’t talk to us anymore. All of us support [my mother)], but my grandmother often says, Ayyo, ishtella aaghoitalla (so much has happened),” Rama said.
He said that Mridula had to shift to their relatives’ house some distance away from their home in Mysuru district because of what happened. She also had to give up work because it was impossible for her to go out in public.
