UK Comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli Faces Trial on 20 Charges Including Rape

UK-based comedian of Indian-origin Hardeep Singh Kohli is accused of 20 charges, including multiple counts of rape and sexual offences involving five women, and is to face trial after pleading not guilty. Kohli, 57, entered his pleas through his legal team during a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow. The trial is scheduled to begin on October 1, 2027, BBC reported. Prosecutors allege the offences took place between January 2006 and June 2021. The most serious allegations involve one woman, with Kohli accused of repeatedly raping her on several occasions between June 2020 and June 2021 at properties near Glasgow and in the city's east end. The indictment alleges the last rape took place on June 20, 2021, when the woman was intoxicated, drifting in and out of consciousness and unable to consent. Kohli also faces four sexual assault charges involving the same woman. Prosecutors allege he blindfolded her during one incident, spat on her during another, and subjected her to controlling and abusive behaviour over a two-year period. According to court documents cited by BBC, he is accused of demanding intimate photographs, monitoring the woman's movements, repeatedly contacting her by phone and text, coercing her into giving him money, locking her out of his home, arriving uninvited at her house and sending indecent images. Separate charges relate to four other women. Prosecutors allege Kohli indecently assaulted one woman at BBC Scotland studios and at a hotel in Glasgow between 2006 and 2008. He is also accused of a sexually related breach of the peace at a restaurant during the same period. Another charge alleges he indecently assaulted a third woman and carried out a sexual act at the Cross Keys Hotel in Canonbie, Dumfries and Galloway, in June 2008. Kohli is further accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a fourth woman at the University of Edinburgh in August 2011. The final complainant alleges Kohli sexually assaulted her at Glasgow's former Yes Bar in December 2016 by grabbing and kissing her without consent. He is also accused of repeatedly approaching her and making sexual remarks. Defence advocate Sarah Livingstone entered not guilty pleas on Kohli's behalf and lodged a special defence of consent in relation to several charges. Kohli, a former BBC The One Show reporter and The Wright Stuff panellist who also appeared on celebrity editions of Big Brother and MasterChef, was excused from attending the hearing.