Australian court convicts Indian-origin man for multiple rapes: How IT consultant executed ‘predatory’ fake job scandal

Balesh Dhankhar, an Indian community leader in Australia, was convicted of raping five Korean women and was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Friday, March 7, Australian Associated Press reported. While granting life-term punishment, with a non-parole period of 30 years, the jury described the crime as ‘premeditated and elaborately executed’.

Balesh Dhankar, who was arrested in 2018, was found guilty of 39 offences, which included 13 counts of sexual assault. The victims he sexually abused were aged between 21 and 27. Balesh Dhankar sexually assaulted either impaired women or when they were unconscious. To lure women into his trap, he posted fake job advertisements. The former IT consultant drugged them in or near his home in Sydney then groped and raped the women, Australian Associated Press report said.

‘Manipulative and highly predatory’

Describing the heinous offence as "premeditated, elaborately executed, manipulative and highly predatory," district court judge Michael King said, "This was an egregious sequence of planned predatory conduct against five unrelated young and vulnerable women over a significant period," the Australian AP reported.

According to court, Balesh Dhankhar demonstrated his desire for sexual gratification which came in complete and callous disregard for each victim. However, Balesh Dhankhar alleged that there was a "difference in how I interpret consent, to how the law sees consent".

All about Balesh Dhankar

As per the report, the former IT consultant kept an Excel spreadsheet in which he rated each fake job advertisement applicant based on looks and intelligence. The spreadsheet detailed the vulnerability of victims and suitability of his plans. Police recovered date-rape drugs and a video recorder disguised as a clock radio from his Sydney central business district unit in 2018.

He arrived in Australia as a student in 2006 after which he worked as a data visualisation consultant with ABC, British American Tobacco, Toyota, and Sydney Trains. Balesh Dhankhar founded a satellite group of the Bharatiya Janata Party and served as a spokesman for the Hindu Council of Australia. Thus, the 43-year-old was highly regarded among the Indian-Australian community until his arrest in 2018.