Young member of Indian political dynasty flees country amid mass rape allegations
'The prime minister has supported a mass rapist.'
A close ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and member of one of the country’s largest political dynasties has fled India amid a flurry of rape allegations.
Prajwal Revanna, 33, has left India as he faces allegations of sexually assaulting and raping more than 400 women – and filming it.
Revanna is also alleged to have blackmailed the victims with 2,800 videos of the acts.
Revanna is the grandson of HD Deve Gowda, of the Janata Dal party, who was prime minister for nine months in 1996.
The party of Revanna and his grandfather is allied with PM Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The accusations come at a time of political turmoil in India as a six-week general election is underway, and Modi is alleged to have known about the rape accusations against his political ally.
Rahul Gandhi, the leader of Congress, alleged that Modi and his party members knew about the videos before they became public.
Gandhi said: ‘This is not a sex scandal but a mass rape. The prime minister has supported a mass rapist.
‘All BJP leaders knew that Prajwal Revanna is a mass rapist and they still allied with him and fielded him in the polls.’
Before Revanna fled the country, he reportedly filed a complaint saying the videos of the assaults were ‘doctored’.
But multiple victims have come forward, with one saying she was assaulted over a period of three years
She said: ‘He asked me to remove my clothes and I denied and said I would scream for help.
‘He then threatened me, saying that he was carrying a gun. He threatened to leak the video to the public if I revealed it to anyone. He used to video call me and ask me to strip. He also raped me several times.’
The Janata Dal party has suspended Revanna as an investigation takes place.
PM Modi’s party has also tried to distance themselves from the situation, saying in a statement: ‘We have nothing to do with the videos and neither do we have any comments to make.’
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