Leaders of the Oppositon Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka on Sunday continued their demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into sexual abuse charges against Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna and related cases, to ensure a fair investigation.
The 33-year-old JD-S MP, who is grandson of JD-S patriarch and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, is facing charges of sexually abusing women.
The scandal has raised a political storm with the ruling Congress and BJP-JD-S engaged in a slugfest.
While the Congress government has formed a Special Investigation Team to probe the cases, the BJP and JD-S -- NDA partners -- have demanded that it be handed over to the CBI, and action taken against those behind the circulation of explicit videos.
BJP leader and former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said bringing out the guilty and ensuring punishment was the primary duty of the SIT, and accused it of "witch hunting".
"People are questioning the way in which the inquiry is progressing. A complaint has been lodged with the National Commission of Women about (a woman) being forced to file a complaint (in connection with case), also complaints are being filed against those who gave information about the sexual abuse case," Bommai said. Addressing reporters in Bengaluru, he said, bringing the guilty to book and ensuring punishment to them is the primary duty of the SIT, but instead "witch hunting" is being done, and thereby causing investigation to lose track. -- PTI