Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court has sentenced Balesh Dhankhar, a founding member of the ‘Overseas Friends of the Bharatiya Janata Party’ (OFBJP) in Australia, to 40 years in prison for the rapes of five Korean women.
According to media reports, the court described his actions as “elaborately executed, manipulative, and highly predatory.”
Dhankhar, 43, posed as a recruiter, and reportedly lured young women with fake job advertisements for Korean-English translation work.
He interviewed them at a Sydney hotel before coaxing them into his apartment in World Square Tower, sometimes promising a view of the Opera House or pretending to retrieve car keys.
Once inside, he drugged them with sedative-laced wine or ice cream before sexually assaulting them.
A hidden spy camera in an alarm clock by his bed captured the attacks. Police found 47 videos of him engaged in sexual acts with unconscious women, stored in folders named after his victims.
PIC OF DHANKHAR
Until his arrest in 2018, Dhankhar was a prominent figure in the Indian-Australian community.
He helped establish the OFBJP’s Australia chapter and was its president. He also represented the Hindu Council of Australia at interfaith lectures at the University of Sydney.
According to a report in the Quint, he boasted of his political connections, claiming access to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A now-deleted image on his website showed him shaking hands with Modi.
PIC OF MODI AND SAMBIT PATRA
Dhankhar was also the media outreach officer for a 2017 event featuring BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, which highlighted “the achievements” of Modi’s government.
Reports from 2014 identified him as an OFBJP leader during Modi’s Australia visit.
According to an OFBJP Australia tweet, he resigned from the organisation in July 2018.
PIC OF OF BJP Australia X account
Dhankhar’s now-deleted LinkedIn profile listed a postgraduate diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication and a diploma in Media Arts and Journalism from the University of Technology Sydney.
According to various reports, Dhankhar worked as a data visualisation consultant on one-year contracts with Pfizer and ABC between 2019 and 2021 while he was out on bail. He had also worked with British American Tobacco, Toyota, and Sydney Trains.
PIC OF Pfizer + ABC
During the trial, Dhankhar did not deny having sex with the victims or recording the encounters, but insisted they were consensual.
The jury, disturbed by the footage, had to be excused early. His wife, often seen in tears, stood by him in court.
Reports suggest he sold family assets to fund his four-year-long legal defence.
Sentencing Dhankhar on 7 March, Judge Michael King condemned his lack of remorse, stating his crimes demonstrated a “complete and callous disregard” for his victims, driven by his “desire for sexual gratification.”