Indian-origin man linked to BJP sentenced 40-year jail for raping 5 South Korean women in Australia
Sydney: An Australian court has sentenced an Indian community leader to forty years in prison after being found guilty of “elaborately executed, manipulative and highly predatory” rapes of five Korean women.
According to media reports, Balesh Dhankhar posted fake job advertisements to lure women in their 20s before drugging them in or near his home in Sydney. The former IT consultant then groped and raped the women. He further filmed his crimes for his future sexual gratification.
He also maintained a spreadsheet ranking applicants of his fake job postings based on appearance, intelligence, and perceived vulnerability.
Dhankhar is the founder of the Australian wing of the Overseas Friends of BJP, an official support group of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the country. He was convicted of 39 offences, including 13 counts of rape, six of administering an intoxicating substance, 17 of recording intimate videos without consent and three of indecent assault.
District Court Judge Michael King sharply condemned Dhankhar's actions, describing them as "premeditated, elaborately executed, manipulative, and highly predatory."
Meanwhile, Dhankhar has denied drugging the women or that the encounters were non-consensual. He told a report writer that there was a "difference in how I interpret consent, to how the law sees consent".
Dhankhar, who arrived in Australia as a student in 2006, was a popular figure in the Indian-Australian community and served as a spokesperson for the Hindu Council of Australia.
Dhankar’s non-parole period expires in April 2053. He will be 83 years old when his full sentence ends.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
