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Indian community leader sentenced to 40 years in Australia
Until his arrest, Dhankhar was a prominent figure in the Indian-Australian community.
Balesh Dhankhar. / Facebook
An Australian court has sentenced Indian community leader Balesh Dhankhar to 40 years in prison for the "premeditated and elaborately executed" rapes of five Korean women, Australia Today reported. The Downing Centre District Court handed 43 yr old Dhankhar a non-parole period of 30 years during his sentencing on Mar.7.
A former IT consultant, Dhankhar lured South Korean women aged between 21 and 27 through fake job advertisements before drugging and assaulting them in or near his Sydney home. According to Australia Today, he was found guilty of 39 offences, including 13 counts of rape, following a jury trial in 2023.
Dhankhar displayed no emotion as the verdict was delivered. District Court Judge Michael King condemned his actions, calling them "premeditated, elaborately executed, manipulative, and highly predatory." The judge further stated that Dhankhar’s pursuit of sexual gratification was carried out with "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," Australia Today quoted Judge King as saying.
The court heard that the victims were either unconscious or significantly impaired at the time of the abuse. Evidence revealed that Dhankhar filmed the assaults and maintained a spreadsheet ranking job applicants based on their appearance, intelligence, and perceived vulnerability.
Dhankhar's crimes came to light in October 2018 after he targeted a fifth victim. A police raid of his Sydney central business district unit uncovered date-rape drugs and a video recorder disguised as a clock radio.
Until his arrest, Dhankhar was a prominent figure in the Indian-Australian community. He had founded a satellite group of the BJP and served as a spokesman for the Hindu Council of Australia. Professionally, he worked as a data visualisation consultant for major corporations, including ABC, British American Tobacco, Toyota, and Sydney Trains. Dhankhar moved to Australia as a student in 2006.
Judge King highlighted the contrast between Dhankhar’s public persona and his predatory behaviour, noting that his image as a community leader was "entirely inconsistent" with the crimes he committed.
Dhankhar has continued to deny drugging the women or that the encounters were non-consensual. He told a report writer, "There was a difference in how I interpret consent, to how the law sees consent."
With a non-parole period set to expire in April 2053, Dhankhar will be 83 years old by the time his full sentence concludes.
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