Balesh Dhankhar has been sentenced to 40 years in prison, with a non-parole period of 30 years, after being found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting five young women in Sydney’s CBD.
Dhankhar was convicted in April 2023 on 39 charges, including sexual assault, drugging, and recording intimate images without consent. He lured his victims—South Korean women aged between 21 and 27—through a fraudulent job advertisement on Gumtree, promising translation work.
Justice Michael King SC told the Downing Centre District Court that Dhankhar used the fake job opportunity to deceive vulnerable women. He arranged interviews, invited them to dinner, and then took them to his studio apartment in World Square, where he drugged and assaulted them while they were unconscious.
“This was an egregious sequence of planned predatory conduct against five unrelated young and vulnerable women over a significant period.”
A police raid on his apartment in 2018 uncovered video recordings of the assaults. Dhankhar also kept a spreadsheet rating job applicants based on appearance, vulnerability, and intelligence.
Victim impact statements presented in court described the long-term psychological effects of the assaults, including anxiety and suicidal thoughts. One victim said she had once been “open and trusting” but now felt “avoidant,” while another described “deep wounds upon her soul.”
In 2023, a jury found Dhankhar guilty of 39 offences, including 13 counts of sexual assault. He denied drugging the women or engaging in non-consensual sex, claiming his interpretation of consent differs from the legal definition.
Justice King said Dhankhar had shown no remorse for his crimes beyond admitting to lying about the job advertisement. He will be eligible for parole in April 2054.
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