Prajwal Revanna Case: How The Sexual Abuse Videos Became A Form Of Entertainment For Hassan

While political parties blame each other for not taking action against him, The News Minute (TNM), in their series titled “Prajwal Revannna Tapes: The Aftermath,” digs deep into the many ignored or avoided truths and consequences of the aftermath of the Prajwal Revanna sexual assault case. One of them is the vicarious consumption of the hundreds of videos recording horrifying instances of sexual assault as entertainment by the people, especially the youth.

Based on the report, many Janata Dal (Secular) workers claimed that by April 22, they had heard rumours that such videos would be leaked ahead of the Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be held on April 26. The next morning, many of them had seen the videos. As the news made its rounds, pen drives filled with hundreds of the graphic videos were found lying at bus stops, on streets, in parks, etc. Attempts to request the police officials take action in the matter or even warn the public against circulating them failed, TNM reported.

Even though 20 days after the release of the videos, two BJP workers – Likith Gowda and Yelagunda Chetan in Hassan – and another individual in Chikkamagaluru were arrested for circulating the videos, the damage had already been done.

From Facebook to Reddit, all social media platforms were filled with an intense quest for explicit videos, with users dropping links to the videos online and charging others money in exchange for the links. While Instagram witnessed short clips (unblurred) being uploaded of the women, Telegram had admins ensuring that users could access the graphic videos even if one channel got shut down.

Curiosity is one of the many reasons. Many young girls and boys were shocked after watching the videos featuring women performing sexual acts, them being sexually assaulted and undressing with their faces clearly visible in every video. These young minds were unable to process what they had seen or the potential imbalance and abuse of power involved in such videos, reported TNM..

Many have taken it upon themselves to identify the women in the videos and harass them both online and offline.

Meanwhile, a barrage of memes have made their entry into the internet, undermining the severity of the crime and the stigma the women have been subjected to and continue to face as society treats them simply as fodder for entertainment since the videos surfaced online.