Further process will follow if Prajwal doesn't return: G Parameshwara
Bengaluru (PTI): Hours ahead of JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna's scheduled return from abroad to face the law over sexual abuse allegations, the Karnataka government on Thursday said the next course of action, such as cancellation of his passport, will follow if he fails to show up as promised.
Prajwal, facing charges of sexually abusing several women, had said in a video statement earlier this week that he will return on May 31 and appear before a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case. He has booked ticket in private flight from Munich that is scheduled to land here at 12.30 IST on Friday.
On Thursday, State Home Minister G Parameshwara said that in case Prajwal Revanna does not return to the country on May 31 as stated, further action such as cancellation of his passport will follow.
Prajwal will be arrested upon his return and the legal process will be initiated, he added.
The anticipatory bail plea moved by the 33 year-old suspended JD(S) MP in a rape case is pending before a city special court and is likely to come up for hearing on Friday. Earlier, some media outlets, including PTI, had erroneously reported that the court had dismissed his bail petition.
"The information is he (Prajwal) will come, he has booked the flight ticket. SIT has made necessary preparations. If he comes the legal process will begin," Parameshwara told reporters.
"As per law, a warrant has been issued against him, so he will have to be arrested, SIT will decide and do it."
"He himself has said in the video statement that he will appear before SIT on May 31 at 10 am, not us. So I feel that he will come... In case he doesn't, the process will follow, like cancelling his passport; we will again request the Interpol through CBI, as the state government cannot do it directly, we will have to do it through Government of India agencies," he added.
A team of SIT officials is camping at the airport here to arrest Prajwal.
Asked whether Prajwal's passport will be impounded, he said the state government has requested the Centre to cancel his passport, and depending on the legal process they might cancel.
"The External Affairs Minister has said that the process has been initiated in this regard, so they might do it," he added.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people took part in a march in Haasan, seeking justice for the victims of the alleged sexual abuse by Prajwal.
They also demanded the arrest of the accused and a fair probe into the cases.
The march was organised by a human rights collective, and was joined by civil society groups from across the state, including women, labourers, farmers, Dalits, and sexual minorities.
The march was held amid the beats of 'Tamate' (a percussion instrument) and drums.
Besides demanding the arrest of Prajwal, the participants also sought justice for the victims and expressed solidarity with them.
They also demanded for action against those behind the circulation of pen drives containing videos of the sexual assault, and urged the administration to ensure the deletion of videos which are in circulation on social media platforms.
Noted activists including former MP Subhashini Ali, writer Roopa Hassan and Vimala KS among others participated in the march.
Prajwal (33), the grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and the NDA candidate from Hassan Lok Sabha segment, is facing charges of sexually abusing women.
He reportedly left for Germany on April 27, a day after Hassan went to polls.
The instances of sexual abuse came to light after several pen drives allegedly containing explicit videos involving Prajwal were reportedly circulated in Hassan, ahead of Lok Sabha polls there on April 26.
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
