India politician seeking reelection accused of making 3,000 sexual assault videos, using them for blackmail

Some of the video clips of the alleged sexual assaults involving the 33-year-old politician first leaked online just days before the polls opened in Revanna's constituency.

Prajwal Revanna, a member of India's parliament from the southern state of Karnataka, has left the country amid allegations that he sexually assaulted multiple women over the last few years and recorded the acts on his phone.

Another politician, from an allied party, said he received a USB drive containing the videos, some of which have leaked online, and he's accused Revanna of using them to blackmail women into continuing sexual relationships with him.

Revanna is the grandson of former Indian Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. He's currently a Member of Parliament for the Janata Dal Secular Party (JDS), which is allied with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

Revanna is seeking reelection to his seat in the general elections that kicked off last week. India's national election is taking place over about seven weeks, in phases, and is set to be the largest election ever held globally, with almost 1 billion eligible voters.

Some of the video clips of the alleged sexual assaults involving the 33-year-old politician first leaked online just days before the polls opened in Revanna's constituency.

Revanna has denied the allegations and filed a police complaint alleging that the videos are manipulated. Soon after the videos leaked, two women appeared on local news outlet Power TV accusing Prajwal of sexual assault.

Separately, another woman, a 47-year-old who's worked at the politician's home, filed a police case alleging that she too had been sexually abused by Revanna multiple times between 2019 and 2022 — and once by his father HD Revanna.

The woman has also accused the younger politician of behaving inappropriately on a video call with her daughter, according to reports in Indian media.