By Declan Brennan and Fiona Ferguson
A former business student who publicly exposed his genitals in front of three different women has been given a 16 month sentence with the final 12 months suspended.
Rishabh Mahajan (31) formerly of Gardiner St Lower, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four counts of offensive conduct of a sexual nature likely to cause fear, distress or alarm to named persons.
He also pleaded guilty to carrying out a sexual assault relating to these incidents, which took place late at night on various dates in October and November 2024.
Judge Martina Baxter had adjourned the case after hearing evidence earlier this year to al-low a probation report be prepared.
In sentencing yesterday, Judge Baxter noted that Mahajan had offended against solitary women, locating vulnerable victims including a woman working alone at night.
She said women were entitled to work, to feel safe and not be menaced by deviant behaviour.
She said it was of concern that his behaviour deteriorated over the time period of the offending.
She noted he had a number of victims, made no attempt to hide, had returned to the same location and was brazen in his approach.
She acknowledged there was no threats made or physical violence involved but said the duplicity of offending was serious in and of itself.
She noted in mitigation he had come to Ireland to study and have a better life but his use of cannabis and alcohol at the time had a detrimental effect on his life and in maintaining pro-social habits.
She notes as a consequence of press attention he was not welcome in many places.
He is now homeless and not in a position to continue with his studies.
His family are not in this country and he has the support of one friend here.
She noted some matters in the probation report which indicated he needed to develop insight into his offending and address his risk factors.
He is assessed as at moderate risk of sexual reoffending.
The probation report noted that Mahajan had no entitlement to remain in the country.
Judge Baxter noted he had not been here long at the time and has not come to any further attention.
She took into account his letter of apology and guilty plea. Judge Baxter imposed a range of concurrent sentences totalling 16 months and suspended the final 12 months on strict conditions.
She told Mahajan that he was now registered as a sex offender.
The court heard there was a deportation order in existence, and she said the prosecuting member should be contacted in relation to this in advance of Mahajan’s release date.
Garda Patrick Hynes previously told Simon Donagh BL, prosecuting, that at around 1am on October 23, 2024 a woman was working a night shift in a city centre office building with a large glass front when she saw a man standing outside looking at her with his genitals exposed.
Mahajan was masturbating while looking directly at the woman.
The court heard the interior of the building was well lit up and the defendant could see the woman.
The victim went to the window to tell the defendant to go away, but he laughed at her.
She called gardai and Mahajan left when he saw her making this call.
A few days later, Mahajan appeared again at the woman’s workplace at around 1.15am.
He pulled his pants down and began masturbating while looking at her.
The woman felt disgusted and was scared she might encounter him while on her way to work, the court heard.
The defendant returned a few days later and exposed himself again.
He came up to the window and wiped his hands on the glass before walking away.
Gda Hynes told Judge Baxter that all three incidents were captured on CCTV which was clearly in place.
He agreed with the judge that the offending was “quite brazen” and took place in “quite an exposed part” of the city.
The court heard that the complainant had outlined the effects of the offending in a victim impact report.
Garda Stephanie Traynor told the court just after six o’clock on the morning of October 11, Mahajan was standing outside a youth hostel when a member of staff saw him standing looking at her.
He opened his coat and she saw his pants were pulled down and his genitals were exposed. Mahajan then began masturbating.
The court heard that the third victim was walking home from a night out on Hallowe’en night when she saw Mahajan standing on a corner masturbating.
She walked past and began to call gardai on her phone when Mahajan ran up to her and touched her bottom.
The woman screamed at him.
The sexual assault was recorded on CCTV and Mahajan was identified and arrested in early November.
He told gardai he couldn’t remember carrying out the offence.
The court heard that Mahajan was standing in a “very public” place “waiting for anyone to go by”.
Gda Hynes agreed with Patrick Flynn BL, defending, that while committing these offences, the defendant made no attempts to conceal his identity with face coverings.
Counsel said his client had his clothes back on when he carried out the sexual assault by touching the wom-an.
Mr Flynn said his client is an Indian national who had arrived in Ireland a month earlier to study at the Smurfit business school in UCD and was living in the Smithfield area at the time.
He said the defendant was now in homeless accommodation and has not come to adverse garda attention since these offences.
Counsel said he was instructed to offer an apology on his client’s behalf to all victims.
He said on the night of the Hallowe’en offences, Mahajan had been celebrating Diwali, a Hindu religious festival.