Overview

• On August 1, the Special Court convicted Prajwal Revanna of rape and sentenced him to life imprisonment based largely on novel forensic superimposition evidence.
• Investigators in B.K. Singh’s SIT matched unique bodily features—including a specific mole, vein patterns and fabric impressions—to stills from assault videos where the perpetrator’s face was hidden.
• Forensic teams superimposed photographs of a Gannikada farmhouse room and a Basavanagudi residence with scenes from the assault videos to confirm that the locations matched the crime footage.
• Judge Santosh Gajanan Bhat praised the SIT’s “limpid examination” and welcomed the adoption of cutting-edge scientific methods in a high-profile political trial.
• The technique’s landmark recognition in Karnataka marks a breakthrough for forensic science and underlines that political status offers no immunity.