Bengaluru: A Special Court here on Saturday sentenced to life imprisonment, former MP and suspended JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna in a rape case.

The Special Court for MPs/MLAs Judge Santosh Gajanan Bhat also imposed a total fine of Rs 10 lakh on the accused. The court had on Friday convicted the 34-year-old in one of the four sexual abuse and rape cases registered against him and reserved the sentencing for Saturday. The case pertains to a 48-year-old woman who was working as a help at the family's Gannikada farmhouse in Hassan district's Holenarasipura. She was allegedly raped twice -- at Hassan farm house and Bengaluru residence-- in 2021 and the act recorded by the accused on his mobile phone.

Earlier in the day, while the prosecution sought life sentence for Revanna, the 34 year-old sought leniency, claiming he did nothing wrong and that his only mistake was his 'fast' growth in politics. He broke down in court as he appealed to the judge for a lesser punishment.

He told the court that he is a BE Mechanical graduate, and has always passed on merit. "...they say that I have raped multiple women, but none of the women have come out voluntarily to complain, they came six days prior to election (Lok Sabha polls last year)...the prosecution side brought them purposefully and made them give a complaint," Prajwal told the court.