Indian-origin man gets 40 years jail term for raping 5 Korean women in Australia

According to a report by Australia Today, Balesh Dhankhar (43) received a non-parole period of 30 years during his sentencing at the Downing Centre District Court on Friday.

Dhankhar, a former IT consultant, used fake job advertisements to lure victims.

Five South Korean women aged between 21 and 27 were drugged before being assaulted in or near his Sydney home, according to reports.

He would then grope and rape the women.

As per reports, Dhankhar displayed no emotion as the verdict was delivered.

He was found guilty of 39 offences, including 13 counts of rape, after a jury trial in 2023.

Sydney District Court Judge Michael King condemned Dhankhar's actions and described them as "premeditated, elaborately executed, manipulative, and highly predatory."

The judge emphasised that the offender'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," the Australia Today report quoted the judge as saying.

The Korean women were either unconscious or significantly impaired at the time of the abuse.

Evidence presented in court also revealed that he filmed his assaults for future sexual pleasures and maintained a spreadsheet ranking applicants of his fake job postings based on appearance, intelligence, and perceived vulnerability.