Kannada filmmaker’s son dies in accident while on joyride with minor girl

Guwahati: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday condemned the alleged sexual abuse of women involving Lok Sabha MP Prajwal Revanna, asserting that the BJP will not tolerate any insult to women.

Revanna (33) is the BJP-JD(S) alliance candidate for Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, which went to polls on April 26.

Earlier in the day, the JD(S) suspended Revanna from the party with immediate effect.

“The issue regarding Revanna that has been reported in the media is very hurtful and cannot be tolerated in any way,” Shah told a press conference here.

“The BJP’s stand is very clear; we will not tolerate any insult to ‘matri aur nari shakti’ (women empowerment),” he asserted.

Some explicit video clips allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, were circulated in Hassan over the last few days.

The home minister said Congress has been alleging that an NDA partner’s candidate is involved in the incident, “but I just want to ask a small question - whose government is there in that state (Karnataka)?”

“The Congress is in power in Karnataka, and this matter must have come to their attention. Why has it not taken any action on it so far? We cannot take any action as law and order is a state issue,” Shah said.

Campuses of several US Universities have been witnessing massive protests with the students seeking a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas. Police have arrested over 550 protesters and some universities are witnessing violent crackdown of protests by the ruthless cops. 

Law enforcement officials at the behest of college administrators have deployed tasers and tear gas against students protesters at Atlanta's Emory University, even though the protests have been largely peaceful, say activists and media personnel present at the spot.

Emil' Keme, professor of English and Indigenous studies, at the University said that the scene reminded him of the civil war in Guatemala as a teenager.

"Police immediately began to force people to move. I felt like I was in a war zone, with all the police and their weapons, the rubber bullets. We were pushed away," Mr Keme told the Guardian describing what happened as soon as cops entered the Emory campus.

“Police took the student next to me, pushed an older lady nearby and then pushed me.”

Student protesters say they are expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where the confirmed death toll has topped 34,305, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. They want universities to cut their investments in everything tied to Israel and weapons that fuel the war in Gaza. That means funds run by BlackRock, Google as well as Amazon's cloud service, Lockheed Martin and even Airbnb.

Video circulated widely on social media shows two women who identified themselves as professors being detained, with one of them slammed to the ground by one officer as a second officer then pushes her chest and face onto a concrete sidewalk.

Atlanta police and Georgia troopers are leading a joint operation within the campus to dismantle the tents and camps the activists have set up at the school's quadrangle. Within minutes of the authorities entering the campus, 28 people, 20 of whom were "Emory community members", had been arrested, the institute said in a statement.

The school president said that the videos of police clashing with the students "are shocking" and that he is "horrified horrified that members of our community had to experience and witness such interactions."

The university's response was likely the quickest show of police force in response to a divestment protest among the dozens nationwide that have occurred in recent weeks. It was also probably the only one where pepper balls, stun guns and rubber bullets were used.

Bengaluru, Apr 29: HD Revanna, the father of Karnataka MP Prajwal Revanna, has accused rivals of creating a conspiracy out of "old videos", a comment that is likely to raise a bigger row over his son's alleged link to the obscene videos.

A woman yesterday filed a police case against Prajwal Revanna and his father over alleged sexual assault. Prajwal Revanna, the Janata Dal (Secular) MP and grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, has denied the latest allegations and also filed a police complaint over circulation of obscene videos, which he said were morphed.

Prajwal Revanna left for Germany on Saturday morning after voting in the Lok Sabha elections a day earlier.

"I know what kind of conspiracy is going on. I am not someone who'll get scared and run away. They have released something that was 4-5 years old. Expelling him from the party is left to the party high command," HD Revanna said.

When it was pointed out that an FIR has been registered against him too, he said, "There is politics, I don't want to comment. They (Congress) are in government and they will do whatever they want."

"All these things are not just today, the Deve Gowda family in the last 40 years (has been targeted by) Congress. CoD (now CID), Lokayukta probe, we have been facing for the last 40 years... I don't want to react to anything...let them take action in accordance with law," he said, adding that he hasn't spoken to Deve Gowda on the issue.

"Since the special investigation team is looking into the case, I will not react any further," HD Revanna said.

Yesterday, a first information report was filed against the father-son duo on charges of sexual harassment, intimidation and outraging the dignity of a woman.

The survivor alleged both sexually assaulted her, and when Revanna's wife was not home, he touched her inappropriately and used to sexually assault her. The complainant alleged Prajwal Revanna also misbehaved with her daughter over a video call. "My daughter blocked his number after repeated calls," the complainant said.

The latest FIR comes when Prajwal Revanna is already in the middle of a controversy after some objectionable videos went viral on social media allegedly involving him.

Prajwal Revanna is seeking a fresh term in the Lok Sabha from as a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate from Hassan.