Notorious rapist Balesh Dhankhar kept horrific spreadsheet on potential victims

Sickening details of how one of Sydney’s worst rapists lured his “young, vulnerable” victims have been revealed in court.

One of Sydney’s worst rapists has been sentenced to decades behind bars after he lured and assaulted young women in a string of horrific crimes in the city’s CBD.

Balesh Dhankhar sat in the docks and showed no emotion as he was sentenced to 40 years in jail, with a non-parole period of 30 years, in the Downing Centre District Court on Friday.

The predator was found guilty by a District Court jury of each of the 39 charges against him in April 2023 relating to the sexual assaults, drugging and intimate recording of five young women aged between 21 and 27.

Justice Michael King SC told the court how the former IT consultant lured five young South Korean women through the false promise of employment before drugging and sexually assaulting them.

Balesh Dhankhar drugged and sexually assaulted his victims. Picture: Facebook

Dhankhar created a Gumtree advertisement for a fake translation job in which he organised job interviews with South Korean women who were staying in Sydney on working holiday Visas.

In the rouse, he would invite the victim to dinner and then up to his studio apartment in World Square in Sydney’s CBD where he told them you can “see the Opera House”.

Inside that apartment, he drugged his victims before sexually assaulting them while they were unconscious.

He also made intimate recordings of the victims without their consent.

Justice King said Dhankhar had used the fictitious job opportunity to lure and deceive his victims.

“His behaviour was premeditated and highly predatory,” he told the court on Friday.

“The object of the plan was to find young, vulnerable South Korean women.”

Dhankhar kept a sickening excel spreadsheet in which he rated each applicant of his fake job advertisement based on looks, vulnerability and intelligence.

Among some of the notes he took were descriptions such as “good target”, “very cute and young”, “fat and ugly” and “no boyfriend”.

Justice King said Dhankhar’s aim was to find women that “didn’t ask too many questions”.

A raid on Dhankhar’s apartment in 2018 also uncovered sex videos of the drugged victims.

He kept a spreadsheet on potential victims. Picture: Facebook

The court was also told how Dhankhar lied to doctors about having trouble sleeping in order to obtain medication that he then gave to the women.

Among harrowing impact statements from the victims, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, suicidal ideology and anxiety following the assaults were noted.

One of the women said prior to the assault she was an “open and trusting” person however now regards herself as “avoidant”.

Another women said the incident had “inflicted deep wounds upon her soul”.

When discussing Dhankhar’s remorse and prospects of rehabilitation, Justice King noted the predator had only expressed he was sorry for lying about the false job advertisement and showed “no contrition for his actions beyond this point”.

Dhankhar will be eligible for parole in April 2054.

Originally published as Notorious rapist Balesh Dhankhar kept horrific spreadsheet on potential victims