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.
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Snowfall blocks two key roads providing alternative connectivity to Kashmir
Rajouri/Jammu (PTI): Traffic on the Mughal and Sinthan Top roads, which provide alternate connectivity to Kashmir, was temporarily suspended on Sunday due to light to moderate snowfall in the high-altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
However, traffic on the 270-kilometre Jammu-Srinagar national highway -- the only all weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country -- was plying as usual despite intermittent rains that ended the over one-and-a-half months long dry spell, they said.
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The Mughal road, which connects the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri with south Kashmir's Shopian, was closed for traffic as a precautionary measure after more than three inches of snow was recorded at Peer Ki Gali on Sunday afternoon.
A group of three tea vendors are left stranded on the road and efforts are on to evacuate them to safety, officials said.
After they were trapped in the snow, the vendors made passionate appeals through video messages urging the authorities to rescue them. The Border Roads Organisation has taken up snow clearance work and is trying to reach the stranded persons, officials said.
The Sinthan Top road, which connects Kishtwar and Doda districts in Jammu with south Kashmir's Anantnag, was also closed after moderate snowfall in the higher reaches.
Both the mountainous roads usually remain closed for several months due to heavy snowfall during winter.
