- By Nidhi Giri
- Sun, 09 Mar 2025 10:28 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
An Indian-origin man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison in Australia for raping five Korean women, a crime that the judge described as ‘premeditated and elaborately executed’. According to a report by the Australian Associated Press, Balesh Dhankhar posted fake job advertisements to lure women before drugging them in or near his home in Sydney. The former IT consultant then groped and raped the women.
Convict Kept Excel Sheets, Rated His Victims
All the women, aged between 21 and 27, were either unconscious or significantly impaired at the time of the abuse. The convict kept a sickening Excel spreadsheet in which he rated each applicant of his fake job advertisement based on looks and intelligence, the report said.
The spreadsheet also recorded his interactions with each victim, their details, and his assessment of their vulnerability and suitability for his plans. He also filmed his crimes for his future sexual gratification.
A jury in 2023 found him guilty of 39 offences, including 13 counts of sexual assault after he was arrested in 2018. The 43-year-old has also been handed a non-parole period of 30 years out of the four-decade-long imprisonment.
Balesh Dhankhar's Response
Dhankhar denies drugging the women or that sex was non-consensual, telling a report writer there was a "difference in how I interpret consent, to how the law sees consent".
The convict’s non-parole period expires in April 2053, backdated to the end of his trial. He will be aged 83 when his full sentence of 40 years ends.
District court judge Michael King said the offender's conduct was "premeditated, elaborately executed, manipulative and highly predatory" and demonstrated his desire for sexual gratification came in complete and callous disregard for each victim.
"This was an egregious sequence of planned predatory conduct against five unrelated young and vulnerable women over a significant period," the Australian AP report quoted the judge as saying.