A jury at the Downing Centre District Court in Sydney has found Balesh Dhankhar, former chief of the Overseas Friends of the BJP, guilty of luring five women into a network of deceit, incapacitating them with drugs, and keeping souvenirs of his cruel attacks.
Dhankhar was accused of committing a total of 39 offenses, which reportedly occurred between January and October 2018. These charges included 13 counts of rape, six of intentionally administering a drug to facilitate rape, 17 of recording private videos without consent, and three of indecent assault.
The guilty verdict was delivered yesterday to each of the 39 charges against Dhankar. The jury members who viewed distressing footage of the perpetrator’s assaults were deeply affected by the viciousness of his actions, media reports said.
When Dhankhar requested to stay out on bail, Judge King denied his request, and he was subsequently handcuffed and escorted away by officers.
The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) in its news report on Monday called Dhankhar “one of the worst rapists in Sydney’s recent history”.
According to the report, Dhankhar’s method of operation involved meeting women who had replied to his fake job advertisement for translating from Korean to English. He would meet them at a bar located near his apartment in Sydney’s Hilton Hotel, drug them, and then rape them at the same hotel. Additionally, he filmed the criminal act.
Dhankhar was arrested on October 21, 2018, when the fifth person he was sexually assaulting regained consciousness and concealed herself in the bathroom while sending messages to a friend.
The SMH report said police found dozens of videos of Dhankhar having sex with women when they raided his CBD apartment in October 2018.
During the trial this month when Crown prosecutor Kate Nightingale said, “The videos [bookmarked online] are very similar to the videos you took,” Dhankar maintained, “It is just a porn video, it has nothing to do with unconscious, impaired.”
Dhankhar has another court appearance scheduled for May, and his sentencing will take place later in the year.
Reports said Dhankar was one of the founding members of the Overseas Friends of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Sydney, which allegedly played a crucial part in coordinating the welcome reception of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Sydney in 2014.
He stepped down from his position in 2018 when the trial got underway. The organisation had tweeted, “Balesh Dhankar resigned from OF BJP Australia in July 2018. We strongly denounce his actions, and he must face the consequences of his actions under the law.”
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A jury at the Downing Centre District Court in Sydney has found Balesh Dhankhar, former chief of the #OFBJP Australia, guilty of luring 5 women into a network of deceit, incapacitating them with drugs, & keeping souvenirs of his attacks. #TheIndianSunhttps://t.co/2eJtF4niOp
— The Indian Sun (@The_Indian_Sun) April 25, 2023
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