Former Chief of OF-BJP found guilty of multiple sexual offences in Australia
Sydney Court found "politically connected predator" lured five Korean women into a web of lies
Melbourne (PTI): Balesh Dhankhar, a prominent member of the Indian community in Australia, was found guilty of raping five Korean women in Sydney after drugging them, a media report said on Monday which described him as "one of the worst rapists" in the city's recent history.
A District Court jury in Sydney's Downing Centre on Monday found the "politically connected predator" lured five Korean women into a web of lies, paralysed them with drugs and hoarded trophies of his callous assaults, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported. It also reported that he was the former chief of the 'Overseas Friends of the BJP' in Australia.
Dhankhar also recorded his sexual assaults using a camera hidden in his bedside alarm clock and on his phone, it said.
"Balesh Dhankhar is one of the worst rapists in Sydney's recent history," it said.
Dhankhar, a data expert, cried on Monday as the jury foreman replied "guilty" to each of the 39 charges against him. He asked to remain on bail but Judge Michael King refused before Dhankhar was handcuffed and led away by officers.
Dhankhar, 43, will face court again in May and will be sentenced later in the year, the report said. Dhankhar's wife supported him in court, often in tears.
The only time Dhankhar cried was while explaining he lied to women because he was lonely after an extra-marital affair broke down. He blamed his loneliness on the "unfulfilling" intimacy of his marriage, the report said.
Dhankhar sold his family's assets and properties to fund his legal defence. He was assigned a rising star barrister. In 2018, police found dozens of videos of Dhankar with other women, the report added.
Sometimes the women are unconscious, other times they struggle and groan as if in a nightmare.
The videos were sorted into folders, each labelled with a Korean woman's name. Then detectives found a series of bookmarks in Dhankhar's browser. One video went for 95 minutes, a montage of unconscious women subjected to sex.
The New South Wales Police officer in charge of Dhankhar's case, Sergeant Katrina Gyde, suspected Dhankhar was living out a disturbed fantasy.
"The videos (bookmarked online) are very similar to the videos you took," Crown prosecutor Kate Nightingale said in this month's trial. "Not at all," Dhankhar replied.
"You thought it was fun... watching Korean women who were unconscious, impaired," the prosecutor said.
"It is just a porn video, it has nothing to do with the unconscious, impaired," Dhankhar insisted.
Dhankhar recorded his sexual assaults using a camera hidden in his bedside alarm clock and on his phone.
The contents of the videos are too confronting to describe in detail. The jury writhed as they watched the videos. At one stage it became too much and they asked to be sent home early, the report said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
