Bengaluru (PTI): Former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna's appeal against his rape case conviction recently came up before the Karnataka High Court and his counsel argued that the trial court's verdict was driven by a media narrative and unsupported by solid evidence.

A Division Bench of Justices KS Mudagal and Venkatesh Naik heard the matter on November 13.

Revanna's advocate, Senior counsel Sidharth Luthra told the court that the conviction lacked incriminating material, pointing out contradictions in witness statements and claiming that the trial judge appeared swayed by the survivor's emotional state during questioning. He argued that such factors could not form the basis of a life sentence.

He also highlighted a delay of three to four years in reporting the offence and an additional delay of up to 48 hours in recording the survivor's complaint after she approached the police.

According to him, these gaps, along with alleged lapses in handling evidence, raised serious doubts about the prosecution's case.

The defence further contended that the chain of custody was not established, with no proper sealing or storage of seized samples. The counsel said key officers were not examined, and criticised what he described as unusual procedures carried out by certain medical board witnesses during the investigation.

He additionally argued that Revanna was not given adequate opportunity to present mitigating factors before sentencing. The trial court pronounced the conviction on August 1 and awarded maximum punishment the very next day, which, he said, denied the accused a meaningful hearing on sentencing.

Seeking interim bail, the senior advocate pointed out that Revanna has already spent a year in custody and said continued detention was unwarranted when the prosecution's foundation was weak.

The High Court will continue hearing the appeal on November 25.

Revanna, who was arrested in May last year after returning from Germany, is contesting the verdict on several grounds, including what he claims are contradictions in the survivor's testimony and inconsistencies in the evidence produced by the prosecution.

The case in which Revanna has been sentenced pertains to the one involving 48-year-old woman who was working as a help at the family's Gannikada farmhouse in Hassan district's Holenarasipura. She was allegedly raped twice -- at Hassan farm house and Bengaluru residence-- in 2021 and the act was recorded by the accused on his mobile phone.

The trial court had relied on multiple pieces of evidence, including video footage, DNA analysis of hair strands, and biological traces found on the victim's clothing, to convict him.

Four separate cases have been registered against Revanna, who is facing charges of rape and sexual harassment, and the SIT was tasked with probing cases.

The cases came to light after pen-drives containing explicit videos allegedly involving Revanna were reportedly circulated in Hassan, ahead of Lok Sabha polls on April 26, 2024.

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Hyderabad (PTI): A 29-year-old woman software employee was allegedly killed by her former husband at her house here on Wednesday, police said.

The victim's husband in a complaint stated that his wife was three months pregnant. However, police said it was not confirmed so far as the post-mortem report is awaited.

The accused, in his 30s, who worked as a software employee in Canada earlier, barged into the victim's residence and after noticing her in a room locked it from inside and allegedly stabbed her multiple times on her head with a knife resulting in her instant death.

The woman's mother-in-law was in the verandah of the house at the time of the incident.

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After being informed by her family members and neighbours, police reached the spot and found that the accused had poured petrol in the room, which he brought with him in a can, and had locked himself in the washroom.

He threatened to set off fire in the room with a lighter he was carrying and after being convinced by the police officials he came out of the washroom and was taken into custody, a police official said.

The couple got married in 2022 and mutually divorced in 2024. She had a second marriage in April 2025, police said.

Based on preliminary investigation, police said the accused bore grudge against his ex-wife as she filed domestic violence case against him.

Police said after their marriage in India, the accused went to Canada, and the deceased later joined him there.

"Some differences arose between the couple and after staying with him for five days she later returned to India and subsequently filed domestic violence case against him in Maharashtra," they said.

 

The accused came to India from Canada in March 2025 following the death of his mother, a police official said.

A Look-out Circular was issued against him because of the case and his passport was suspended and he was unable to go back to Canada since then and was presently residing in his native place in Peddapalli district of Telangana, without any work.

The accused felt that he and his family faced mental suffering due to the case. He also felt that his mother's death was due to the mental agony caused by the estranged wife, police said.

The accused developed a grudge against her and decided to eliminate her, police said. He managed to locate her residential address through her social media account and came to Hyderabad two months ago and stayed in a hostel.

He also "recceed" the victim’s apartment recently.

As per his plan, he came to the apartment on Wednesday with a bag containing two knives, a drilling machine, a can containing five-liter petrol among other items.

CCTV footage broadcast by local TV channels showed the man carrying a bag and walking in the corridor of the apartment.