Balesh Dhankhar, a man with political connections with BJP in the Indian-Australian community, has been found guilty by a Sydney court of drugging, raping, and filming five Korean women, making him one of the city’s most heinous rapists.
Dhankhar, who was once the head of Overseas Friends of the BJP, associated with influential members of Sydney’s Indian community and even appeared in many photos with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He tricked the women into believing he would provide employment opportunities for them, drugged them, and recorded himself raping them.
When police searched his CBD apartment in 2018, they found several videos of him having sex with women, including some who were unconscious or in pain. Dhankhar has been accused of raping multiple women, who testified that he deceived them under false pretenses and drugged them before raping them.
Dhankhar’s deception began with a fake job posting for Korean translators in 2017. Despite the accusations, Dhankhar denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the videos were merely pornography.
The women involved in the case were traumatized by the experience and could have been spared testifying if Dhankhar had pleaded guilty earlier. Dhankhar’s sentencing will occur later this year.
