Indian-origin man found accountable of drugging, raping 5 Korean ladies in Australia
By India Today World Desk: An Indian-origin man in Australia has been convicted of drugging and raping 5 Korean ladies and filming the acts on a hidden digicam, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Balesh Dhankhar, a distinguished member of the Indian diaspora in Australia with political ties, confronted trial over 39 costs along with 13 counts of rape devoted between January and October 2018. He has been found accountable of all costs by a jury on the District Court in Sydney on Monday.
The 43-year-old information expert broke down in courtroom when the jury foreman replied “guilty” to each of the 39 costs in opposition to him, the Herald report talked about. He will face courtroom as soon as extra in May and can in all probability be sentenced later inside the 12 months.
A predator’s modus operandi
The jury heard Dhankhar had a ‘very specific modus operandi’ to ensnare the women – with a fake job posting for Korean translators. He used the equivalent lodge, café, and Korean restaurant to meet the women sooner than taking them to his studio condominium inside the Sydney CBD beneath false pretences.
Prosecutors talked about Dhankhar spiked glasses of wine and totally different drinks with tablets of the sleeping drug Stilnox or infamous date-rape drug Rohypnol.
Dhankhar filmed the rapes on a digicam hidden in his bedside alarm clock, or on his cellphone, which had been every recovered by police.
When police searched Dhankhar’s condominium in October 2018, they discovered 47 films of him having sexual exercise with ladies, a couple of of whom had been unconscious whereas others had been struggling and groaning as if in agony.
The rape films had been organised into folders, each labelled with the sufferer’s establish.
Arrest and trial
Dhankhar was arrested on October 21, 2018, after his fifth sufferer wakened whereas he was assaulting her, and despatched messages to an excellent good friend whereas hiding inside the toilet.
Dhankhar pleaded not accountable, claiming all 5 ladies consented to intercourse, and to being filmed, and confronted a chronic trial. All 5 of his accusers had been subjected to gruelling cross-examination in courtroom. The recordings of the sexual assaults had been moreover carried out for the jury.
According to The Herald, the jury “writhed” as they watched the flicks, and at one stage, when it turned unbearable, they requested the select to ship them dwelling early.
In his defence, Dhankhar outlined that he lied to ladies on account of he was lonely after an extra-marital affair broke down. He blamed his loneliness on the “unfulfilling” intimacy of his marriage, the report talked about.
(With PTI inputs)
