An Indian politician and his two sons from well known opposition party in India are arrested for sexual harassment in different cases

An Indian Politician from Janta Dal (Secular) Party, who also served as a member of Lok Sabha has been charged under sexual harassment case for the fourth time amid general elections. The case has been registered against JD’s MP Prajwal Revanna including three others, one of them is former BJP MLA. Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Karnataka Police registered the case of sexual harassment under IPC Sections 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking), 354B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 66E (violation of privacy) of the IT Act. Prajwal was already in custody for earlier cases that were registered within the time span of two months. On April 28, he was co-accused in sexual harassment of 47-year-old house help along with father HD Revanna, on 1 May he was accused of repeated rape by a 44-year-old former member of Zila Panchayat in Hassan whereas on May 8 he was accused of repeated rape by a woman in her sixties from Mysuru, who was kidnapped allegedly at the behest of HD Revanna and Bhavani Revanna, quoted Deccan Herald. His elder brother Suraj Revanna is also charged under IPC Section and is arrested for sexually assaulting a male party member. The case has been registered under IPC Sections 377, 342 and 506 at the Police Station in Hassan.
Surprisingly, the father and the sons are in politics for over 10 years and were at higher positions, since. HD Revanna is a member of Karnataka Legislative Assembly since 2004, Suraj Revanna is also serving as a member of Karnataka Legislative Council since 2015, whereas Prajwal Revanna served as a member of Lok Sabha and is the third youngest member of parliament in India. However, now three of them are arrested and under custody by SIT to take the investigation forward. But the question is, with such contentious background, how such people are appointed to serve the country? A research conducted by Political scientist Milan Vaishnav over links between crime and democracy in India for many years now and found that candidates with clean records had an 18% chance of winning their next election whereas candidates with clean records have only 6% chance, quoted BBC. Study revealed that candidates with criminal records do not hide their reputation and media plays a significant role in rising awareness and unmasking the identities, and Milan Vaishnav believes that well informed voters support criminal candidates in constituencies where there is a social divisions driven by caste or religion and government on the other side fails to carry out its functions and deliver service or serve justice.
Deepak who said is a BJP supporter has never checked candidate’s background before voting. He said, ‘To be honest, I have never checked a candidate’s background before going to vote or have saw anybody doing this around me. During elections, constantly media channels broadcast campaigns, experiences and controversies related to political parties and nominated candidates, so I am aware about the history of elected candidates to an extent, media or news channels provide’. Furthermore, he added that we as voters are heavily relied on information media channels provide, so a leader with a rich background can erase his/her criminal records with no time, and so it becomes challenging for people to vote considering the criminal records of candidates. According to the Association of Democratic Reforms analysis of 763 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs, 306 had criminal cases (40%) and 194 (25%) had serious criminal cases pending against them when they filed their affidavits, quoted The Hindu. On asking if he is all right with a criminal serving the country or making laws, to which Deepak told EAT news, ‘No, I am not OK with this information that a criminal is running constituencies or winning elections. I think election committee should have stricter rules and regulations on who can be nominated for elections, because it is not possible for citizens to know the whole history of a candidate.’ He also commented on the recent Prajwal Revanna’s case and said, ‘It is disgusting that father and sons are arrested for sexual harassment in multiple cases, while being a member of Legislative council. It is not right and they should be charged and punished just like other criminals with no privileges given. Before elections, media channels should broadcast the complete run through of one’s life including any kind of legal involvement in past. Because, if there are stricter rules for citizens while applying to any job or for any legal or government document, everybody should be treated equally.’
The MP analysis shows, 32 of them are charged for attempt to murder cases, 21 for crimes against women, 11 for murder cases and 4 for rape cases. Getting release on bail is not a struggle for such leaders, however it is humiliating and disrespecting to the whole country, when candidates are named in crimes while dreaming of serving the nation.