An Indian man, who was in Ireland one month when he went on a masturbating spree over a week has been remanded on continuing bail.
Former UCD masters student Rishabh Mahajan (30), who claims to be homeless but was bailed to an address on Lower Gardiner Street, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to exposing his genitals and masturbating in public in front of three women, as well as sexually assaulting one of the women by touching her bottom.
Judge Martina Baxter heard evidence from prosecuting counsel, Simon Donagh BL of how the first victim was at work in the early hours of the 23rd of October 2024 when she noticed the accused with his genitals exposed and masturbating while looking straight at her.
The court heard that the accused positioned himself in front of the building the woman was working in which has an exterior wall made of glass.
At 1:50 am the victim spotted Mahajan “touching himself and masturbating while watching her”.
Garda Patrick Hynes gave evidence that the building in question, which is in the Dublin 7 area, was well lit and that it was “clear” that there were a number of security cameras on the building.
Garda Hynes said that it would have been “obvious” that the woman was inside the building.
When the victim noticed what was happening she went to the window and told the accused to “go away” however he laughed at her and only left when he saw her making a call, which was to Gardaí.
Between the 3rd and 4th of November Mahajan appeared in front of the glass walled building again, this time on a bike, at 1:15 am. He later returned with his “pants pulled down and started masturbating while looking at her,” Mr. Donagh said, adding that the trousers of the accused were pulled down further this time than on the previous occasion.
The victim again called the Gardaí causing Mahajan to leave, she described feeling “disgusted” and becoming “scared” that she might run into him again in the course of her work.
Mahajan came back a third time and engaged in masturbating while looking at the woman again, but this time he positioned himself “slightly further back” from the glass.
Before he left he started wiping his hands across the glass, the court heard.
All three incidents were captured on CCTV with Judge Baxter commenting that the actions of the accused were “brazen” in nature.
Defending counsel, Paddy Flynn BL said that his client, who is from New Delhi, had not made any attempt to conceal his identity and that he had been living in a building directly in front of the woman’s workplace at the time.
Mahajan came to Ireland as a masters student at UCD’s Smurfit Business School and claimed to have been drinking and consuming cannabis at the time, however Garda Hynes said that the accused had not mentioned “any intoxicants” when interviewed.
Judge Baxter commended the victim for her “frankness” in her “very articulate” victim impact statement, saying that “what somebody might see as minor can have a wider impact,”.
Garda Stephanie Trainor of the Bridewell station gave evidence in respect of two further victims.
On the 11th of October a housekeeper at a hostel in the same area of Dublin was sweeping outside the building when she noticed the accused watching her from the other side of the street.
When he became aware that she had noticed him, he opened his coat revealing his trousers down and his genitals exposed before he began to touch himself.
When the woman saw what he was doing, she went back into the building and alerted a security guard, prompting the accused to run away.
A third victim was walking through the city centre at approximately 2:45am after Halloween night with a friend when she noticed the accused standing on Arran Quay.
The woman said that he had his hand down his trousers and that it was obvious to her that he was masturbating.
After the woman passed by him, at a small distance, she became aware that he was following her before he came up behind her and touched her bottom.
On the 6th of November CCTV of the incident was obtained before the accused was arrested two days later.
When interviewed he claimed that he “couldn’t remember” any of the incidents, and replied that it was ”not possible that he would have forgotten”.
Mr. Flynn said that Halloween was “Diwali” to his client who is of the Hindu religion.
When Flynn said that he client claimed to be intoxicated by alcohol and cannabis at the time of the offences, Garda Trainor said, “He did not inform me of that, no”.
Both counsels agreed that the accused has not come to any further Garda attention.
At the request of the defence, Judge Baxter agreed to adjourn the case to allow for the completion of a probation report to determine the likelihood of the accused reoffending, remarking that he is “essentially a sex offender” as he pleaded guilty in respect of all charges.
The case is to come before the courts again on the 19th of May next with the Judge Baxter remanding the accused on continuing bail until that time.
The court gave instructions that notification be made immediately if the accused should have any interaction with the Garda PULSE system in the interim.