Bengaluru court rejects JD(S) MLC Suraj Revanna's bail plea in sexual assault case

Bengaluru: A court in Bengaluru on Tuesday dismissed the bail plea of JD(S) MLC Suraj Revanna, accused of sexually assaulting two men. 

Lawyers defending Suraj had moved a bail application, and the prosecutors representing the Special Investigation Team (SIT) filed objections. 

A well-placed source in the prosecution team from the SIT told DH that the defense lawyers argued that the suspect should be granted bail as evidence collection and statement recording were completed. 

However, the SIT prosecutors suggested that the chances of destroying evidence were high as the suspect is an influential person. 

“They claimed that the cases appear to be politically motivated, but we suggested that there have been two similar cases and corroborating evidence for it,” the source told DH.

According to the source, the SIT has the transcript of a conversation between the suspect and one of his victims. 

The magistrate considered that the suspect’s release may lead to evidence destruction and rejected the bail plea. 

Suraj was booked by Hassan’s Holenarasipura police on June 22 under IPC sections 377 (unnatural offenses), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) after a 27-year-old male JD(S) worker accused him of sexually assaulting him on June 16. 

In the second case, the complainant alleged that he was sexually abused by the 36-year-old accused three years ago during the Covid-19 pandemic.