Ashfield gang rapes

The Ashfield gang rapes were a series of attacks involving indecent assault and rape of possibly as many as eighteen teenaged women of varying ethnic backgrounds which were carried out in Ashfield, New South Wales, Australia in late 2001 and over a six month period in 2002. A group of four Pakistani brothers and a Nepali student were convicted and imprisoned for the rapes.

Rapists
The "KHAN" Brothers: MSK, MAK, MRK and MMK. Two of the brothers were juvenile at the time of the crimes; in line with regulations on juvenile criminals the brothers have been referred to in news reports by their initials only, although according to Jason Morrison, Macquarie Radio Network’s Director Of Current Affairs, their identities might have been reported on the Internet.

The four K brothers are the children of a Sydney general practitioner, Dr Hasan K, of Pakistani origin. They had grown up in Pakistan and had been brought to Sydney in 2000 by their doting father, who provided them with a house in Ashfield. He unsuccessfully attempted in court to provide an alibi for his sons, and was facing perjury charges at the time of his death in November 2006.

The fifth rapist, Ram Shrestha, was a Nepalese immigrant and friend of the "K" brothers.

At the time of the trial three of the K brothers were already serving a prison sentence for a previous rape. Defendant MSK divulged this information, which had been kept from the jury to prevent them from being biased against the defendants, in open court in a supposed attempt to have the trial aborted.

Outcome of the trial
MSK, MAK, MRK, and MMK were sentenced to between 15 and 24 years imprisonment. Ram Shrestha hanged himself in his prison cell after he was found guilty. The possibility of depriving the rapists of Australian citizenship and deporting them after release was discussed, but under Australian law citizenship can be revoked for children who became citizens by descent only in cases of migration-related fraud.

Crimes
Their crimes are similar to the Sydney gang rapes by Lebanese-Australian men led by Bilal Skaf. One of the victims alleged that the rapists referred to the Lebanese rapes during the crime. Many of the crimes were videotaped by the perpetrators; the tapes were used as evidence in the trial.

The crimes were, in chronological order:

MMK is also alleged to have indecently assaulted a 15-year-old girl, Y, in November 2001, but she did not wish to go to trial. On 12 May 2002, he allegedly indecently assaulted two other girls whom police cannot locate, molesting them while he videotaped them.

The four brothers were sentenced to a total of 70 years imprisonment over the July 28 rapes. In late 2004 three of the brothers involved in the rape appealed against their sentences, but their appeals were rejected in November 2005. The fourth brother is continuing his sentence while the fifth rapist, Ram Shrestha, committed suicide.

In April 2006 the New South Wales Supreme Court increased the sentences of three of the brothers. Justice Peter Hidden added a minimum of five years to MSK's sentence and a minimum two extra years to MAK's jail term for the February and July 14 rapes. Their younger brother, MMK, was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, to be served concurrently and in juvenile detention, for having consensual sex with an underage girl on the night of one of the rapes, as well as for an indecent assault in November 2001.

In October 2007 it was reported that three of the brothers were facing further rape charges. In March 2009 MRK pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl in 2002; he is due to be sentenced on 20 March 2009.

Cultural issues
It has been alleged, and indeed claimed by the rapists themselves, that the rapes originated in the clash of Pakistani and Australian cultures, that the rapists did not understand the notion of consent, or that they saw their victims as consenting on the basis of behaviour which Pakistani girls would not engage in. The judge in their trial reprimanded their lawyer in the trial for attempting to use this argument.

Jail assault
On 9 February 2007 it was reported that the two eldest brothers had been assaulted in Goulburn Correctional Centre by a gang of eight other inmates. One was taken to Canberra Hospital with critical head injuries. Seven convicts appeared in court via videolink in March 2009 to face charges over the assault.

Release
MRK, the first of the brothers to be eligible, was granted parole by the State Parole Authority in April 2010 despite the opposition of NSW Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham, and released the following month.