Former Janta Dal (Secular) MP, Prajwal Revanna, has been in the news for the past several weeks after thousands of videos of him committing sexual assault emerged in late April. Revanna is accused of raping multiple women and recording these assaults to use as blackmail against his victims. At least fifty of the victims have been identified so far and four first information reports have been registered against him.
After fleeing the country once the videos were made public, the rape-accused politician returned nearly a month later and is currently being investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT). The case has received substantial public attention and extensive media coverage. Although the language used in a lot of this coverage is extremely questionable.
A majority of these outlets, both print and broadcast, carrying stories about Revanna’s crimes and the ongoing investigation have been referring to it as the ‘obscene video’ case, ‘sex video’ case, a ‘sex scandal’ or some variation thereof. Only a handful of media outlets have correctly referred to it as a rape/sexual assault case and mentioned that the videos depict sexual abuse, as opposed to calling them ‘sex tapes’.
The use of such language not only gravely mischaracterises the nature of this case, but also has the effect of soft-peddling his crimes and greatly minimising the extent of his abuse in popular perception.
Erasure of Sexual Violence
Headlines, ideally, should be direct and clear. They should allow the reader to glean pertinent information about the contents of the story. This is why calling several recordings of sexual assault ‘sex videos’ is inappropriate as it grossly misrepresents what actually took place.
TNM reported that some news channels that reported on the case played parts of these videos to sensual music. While this sort of sensationalist coverage isn’t the norm for the bulk of the reporting, most major publications and broadcasting channels’ reportage has been detrimental. Such reporting aids Revanna in portraying his crimes as only being limited to the nonconsensual recording of videos, by omitting discussions of sexual violence.
Obscene videos or sex videos don’t give a viewer or reader any information about whether these videos referenced are those of consensual sex or sexual assault because this wording doesn’t indicate that any sexual violence took place. Further, this language paints a narrative where the videos alone are the crux of the issue and not the sexual assault Revanna committed against numerous women over several years and the horrific abuses of power at play.
Misrepresenting his crimes and using softer language to report on them sanitises his crimes in the public’s perception, minimising the true extent of his abuses and the impact it has had on his victims. Many victims, fearing ostracisation and reprisals after their identities were revealed once the recordings were circulated publicly, have had to leave their homes, with some even leaving the district. The fourth complainant has outlined the social costs to her and her family in her FIR filed against the former MP.
Patriarchal notions of victim-blaming always seek to displace blame onto the victims of sexual violence. Women are routinely held accountable for the crimes committed against them and the onus of preventing violence is shifted onto them. Thus, the media using such language will only lead to further stigmatisation of the victims because referring to sexual assault as sex implies consent and frames the issue as one where sexual acts were recorded as opposed to the reality that Revanna raped women and recorded these assaults to use as blackmail.
Whether the framing is intentional or not, it is still damaging. This highlights how Indian media outlets don’t utilise appropriate vocabulary when reporting on sexual violence against women. Media reports of sexual violence often have glaring inadequacies; the employment of passive voice, sexist and problematic images depicting rape, and sensationalist and salacious coverage have long plagued media reports. The ubiquitous use of inaccurate and trivialising language in the Revanna case speaks to the urgent need for more informed and sensitive reporting and the importance of not dismissing this as mere semantics.
Revanna’s Privilege Influences Reporting
Prajwal Revanna and his family yield massive political power and clout. This is evidenced by the initial media reaction to the videos. TNM reported that even though these videos had already emerged on voting day in Hassan, local media outlets who spoke to Prajwal Revanna that morning only asked him innocuous questions about his campaign and the elections and entirely steered clear of all questions regarding the serious rape allegations against him and the circulation of the videos.
Prajwal Revanna is not only a JD(S) leader and former Member of Parliament from Hassan, but he’s also the scion of a powerful political dynasty. He’s the grandson of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda; the nephew of Union Minister and former Karnataka Chief Minister, H D Kumaraswamy; and the son of Karnataka MLA, H D Revanna.
Further, JD(S)’s proximity to the BJP as the latter’s alliance partner only solidifies Prajwal Revanna’s political power. Local BJP leader, Deveraje Gowda claims to have written to Karnataka’s BJP chief, informing him of allegations surrounding Revanna and the possible existence of these recordings, mere months before the NDA announced Prajwal Revanna’s candidature for the Lok Sabha elections.
The political power and privilege Revanna enjoys allowed him to commit crimes with impunity for years and suppress any public discussion of the videos through a gag order.
In June 2023, Revanna succeeded in securing a gag order concerning the recordings from a Bengaluru civil court against 86 media outlets and three persons. According to reports, many in and around Hassan knew of the existence of these videos, even if they weren’t aware of the extent of the abuse. The fact that Prajwal Revanna could keep this under wraps for over a year, even after publicly alluding to their existence when getting the gag order, speaks to his enormous privilege. It is then a valid question to ask if this clout influences how media outlets choose to report his crimes.
ANI, one of India’s biggest news agencies, continues to use the term ‘obscene videos’ in all its reportage associated with Revanna and his crimes, even after being called out on social media for it. ANI’s story on Prajwal Revanna being produced before a special court refers to the case as the obscene video case and mentions he has been accused of ‘sexual harassment’ and ‘criminal intimidation’ in a blatant effort to trivialise his crimes.
Only towards the very end of the piece does it mention that the ‘obscene videos’ in question depict sexual assault. The outlet’s story about the BJP distancing itself from the case doesn’t once directly mention the sexual crimes committed by Revanna. The videos are instead referred to as ‘sleaze videos’.
Callous reporting of Prajwal Revanna’s crimes, irrespective of whether it is influenced by his political privilege or done unwittingly, works to soften public perception in his favour by distorting the facts of the case and the ghastly nature of his abuses. Media outlets play a significant role in shaping public perception, and therefore, they have a responsibility not just to report facts but to do so accurately and sensitively.
Responsible reportage also includes responsibility towards the victims. Prajwal Revanna’s towering influence in Hassan due to his family name, combined with misogyny, positions the victims as probable targets for stigma, ostracization, and perhaps, even persecution. The media must ensure they don’t push narratives that have even the most minuscule possibility of influencing people to shift any blame onto the victims or shame them for the violence they were subjected to.
Prajwal Revanna’s socio-economic and political privilege will undoubtedly be weaponised by him in an effort to evade accountability and justice. To what extent this will work for him is yet to be seen. But the least the media can do, as the fourth pillar of democracy, is to hold him accountable in the court of public opinion by reporting his crimes without diluting them.
Akshita Prasad is a writer whose work primarily focuses on law, policy, politics and pop culture.
