On the day of his arrest, the team of women officers bundled Prajwal into the back seat of a police vehicle and took him to the SIT office at the Criminal Investigation Department.
Later, when he was taken to court and to Bowring hospital for medical checkup, he continued to be accompanied by the women officers.
Advertisement“It was a conscious call to send all women officers to arrest Prajwal.
“We don’t want to reveal the names of the women officers for various reasons.
All his political influence doesn’t bother us, and we only go by the IPC sections that are against him,” one of the women SIT officers said.
The decision to send a team of women police officers to arrest rape-accused JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna from the Bengaluru airport early on Friday was a “conscious call”, said a senior officer of the Karnataka Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) — half of which is made up of women.
The 29-member SIT comprises 14 women — officers of all ranks, from the investigating officer to technical experts.
On the day of his arrest, the team of women officers bundled Prajwal into the back seat of a police vehicle and took him to the SIT office at the Criminal Investigation Department. Videos of this were widely circulated on social media. Later, when he was taken to court and to Bowring hospital for medical checkup, he continued to be accompanied by the women officers.
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“It was a conscious call to send all women officers to arrest Prajwal. The idea was to send a message that women have the authority to put him through legal proceedings for having allegedly misused his power to exploit women,” a senior officer in the SIT said.
The SIT is investigating three cases of sexual assault against Prajwal. The MP from Hassan, who is also seeking reelection, had left India on April 27, a day after voting was held for the Hassan Lok Sabha seat. His trip abroad also came at a time when videos purportedly involving him and allegedly showing sexual assault found their way into the public domain.
A source in the SIT said the women officers were at the forefront of the investigation into Prajwal, but apart from the name of the investigating officer, Suma Rani, and two IPS officers — Suman D Pennekar, Deputy Inspector General of Police (headquarters), and Seema Latkar, Mysuru Superintendent of Police — the names of the other women in the SIT have not been revealed.
“We don’t want to reveal the names of the women officers for various reasons. We are working as a team, and also, there are chances that women officers’ personal life may be affected as Prajwal Revanna comes from an influential family,” the SIT source said.
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Apart from the three mentioned above, women officers in the SIT include two assistant commissioners of police, two inspectors, three sub-inspectors, two head constables, and two constables.
These officers said they treat Prajwal like every other accused. “To me, he is just another suspect who is booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). All his political influence doesn’t bother us, and we only go by the IPC sections that are against him,” one of the women SIT officers said. She said she was likely selected to be part of the SIT because she had managed to get three convictions in a year for major crimes.
Another woman officer said she was likely picked for her technical expertise as well as her ability to talk to victims.
“A woman victim will be more comfortable to open up with female police officers. Besides getting details from them, we also need to console them and instil confidence in them. I believe that this is why there are several women in the team. I also have some years of experience in collecting technical evidence,” she said.
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According to sources in the SIT, none of the officers are from Hassan, “as it may influence the case”.
A senior woman officer said the SIT members, both men and women, were working tirelessly. “We are in the process of collecting evidence and questioning Prajwal. We will also take him to various crime scenes for mahazar. It will be a marathon, and everyone in the team – men and women – are putting in a lot of effort,” she said.
The officer said the women drafted into the SIT were efficient cops who had worked previously with the IPS officers in the team. Two of them also have the specialist experience of working in cyber crime police stations – crucial in a case where mobile phone videos and other technical evidence play a major role.
Prajwal, the son of MLA H D Revanna and grandson of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, was on Friday sent to SIT custody until June 6 by a special court.
