Villagers thwart minor’s rape bid; accused thrashed, handed over to police

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) on Monday responded to Karnataka’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) regarding a blue corner notice issued against JDS MP Prajwal Revanna.

In its response, Interpol said that all 196 member countries were alerted to identify and report if Prajwal Revanna is spotted at any port in their jurisdiction.

The Karnataka government issued a Blue Corner Notice on Sunday against Prajwal Revanna, who is facing allegations of sexual abuse by his staff members.

A Blue Corner Notice is issued by the international police cooperation body to collect additional information from its member countries about a person’s identity, location or activities about a crime.

The notice was issued after the 33-year-old Hassan MP reportedly flew to Germany soon after the Karnataka State Commission for Women chairperson Nagalakshmi Chowdhary wrote to the CM to order a probe into the sexual allegations against Prajwal.

Last week, the anticipatory bail application of Prajwal Revanna was also denied by Justice Santosh Gajanana Bhat’s bench of People’s Representative Court in Bengaluru.

Earlier, his MLA father and son of former Prime Minster HD Deve Gowda, HD Revanna was remanded to Karnataka SIT custody in a kidnapping-related sex scandal case.

His arrest came after the kidnapped victim was rescued from Revanna’s close assistant Rajasekhar’s farmhouse in Kalenahalli, Hunsur Taluk after the SIT conducted the rescue operation to find her, the police said.

The abduction case was filed by the son of a woman who worked at the Revannas’ house for nearly five years. He alleged that his mother was kidnapped from her home on April 29 by Satish Babanna a relative of Revanna.

The Karnataka Sex Scandal case pertains to explicit video clips allegedly involving the 33-year-old Prajwal, grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, which went viral on social media.

Those videos began to make rounds in Hassan in recent days, following which the state government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the sexual abuse allegations against the MP.

In an intriguing turn of events, authorities have levied a fine against an actress for breaching traffic regulations depicted within a television serial.

In the 14th episode of the popular serial ‘Seetha Raama’ a Kannada language drama series airing on Zee Kannada, a scene featuring two individuals riding a scooter caught the attention of viewers. While the rider adhered to safety protocols by wearing a helmet, the actress on the pillion did not.

Jayaprakash Yekkur, a vigilant resident of Mangaluru, took swift notice of this discrepancy and promptly lodged a complaint with the Mangaluru City Police Commissioner. Yekkur underscored the concern that such portrayals of traffic violations by actors and actresses could potentially convey misleading messages to viewers, particularly those who are impressionable. He urged authorities to take decisive legal action against the actress, the serial’s director, and the broadcasting channel.

In response to Yekkur’s complaint, the Commissioner of Police forwarded the matter to the Mangaluru Traffic Police station. Subsequently, notices were issued to the owner of the two-wheeler featured in the scene and the serial’s director. Upon investigation, it was revealed that the scene had been filmed in Nandini Layout, Bengaluru, and was referred to the Rajajinagar police station for further scrutiny.

On May 10, after thorough inquiries, the Rajajinagar police station imposed a fine of Rs 500 on both the actress and the owner of the two-wheeler. Furthermore, the production manager of the serial committed to adhering strictly to traffic regulations in future episodes.

Expressing his contentment with the resolution, Jayaprakash Yekkur commented that the prompt response from the police, coupled with the imposition of a fine, serves as a valuable lesson and contributes significantly to enhancing public awareness.

Mangaluru, May 14: The Met department has sounded a yellow alert in 13 districts of Karnataka including the three coastal districts of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada for next four days. 

The other districts are Belagavi, Dharwad, Haveri, Chikkamagalur, Chitradurga, Hassan, Kodagu, Mandya, Ramanagara, Shivamogga. These districts are expected to received 6-11 cm of rain, the department said.

On Monday Dakshina Kannada and Udupi experienced a monsoon-like atmosphere. Rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning, began in most parts on Sunday evening. In Udupi, rain showered in the early hours of Monday. While Kundapur and Udupi received moderate rains, Karkala experienced a heavy downpour.

The showers lowered the daytime temperature in both districts. Light rain fell in Mangaluru and its outskirts early Monday morning. Mangaluru city recorded a maximum temperature of 33.4°C and a minimum of 23.2°C on Monday. This is expected to decrease by two to four degrees in the next four days, according to the weather department.