Indian-origin, UK-based comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli faces 20 charges, including multiple counts of rape and sexual offenses involving five women, and will face trial after pleading not guilty.
Kohli, 57, made his submissions through his legal team during a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow. The BBC reported that the trial is scheduled to begin on October 1, 2027.Prosecutors allege the crimes occurred between January 2006 and June 2021. The most serious allegations relate to one woman, whom Kohli is accused of repeatedly raping on several occasions between June 2020 and June 2021 at properties near Glasgow and in the east end of the city.The indictment alleges the most recent rape occurred on June 20, 2021, when the woman was intoxicated, drifting in and out of consciousness and unable to consent.Kohli also faces four counts of sexual assault involving the same woman. Prosecutors allege he blindfolded her during one incident, spit on her in another, and subjected her to controlling and abusive behavior over a two-year period.According to court documents cited by the BBC, he is accused of requesting intimate photos, monitoring the woman’s movements, repeatedly contacting her via phone and text messages, forcing her to give him money, locking her out of his home, arriving at her home without invitation and sending inappropriate photos.
Separate charges relate to four other women. Prosecutors allege that Kohli indecently assaulted a woman at BBC studios in Scotland and at a Glasgow hotel between 2006 and 2008. He is also accused of sexually violating the peace at a restaurant during the same period.A further charge alleges he indecently assaulted a third woman and performed a sexual act at the Cross Keys Hotel in Canonby, Dumfries and Galloway in June 2008.Kohli was also accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a fourth woman at the University of Edinburgh in August 2011.The final complainant alleges that Kohli sexually assaulted her at the former Yes Bar in Glasgow in December 2016, by grabbing her and kissing her without her consent. He is also accused of repeatedly approaching her and making sexual remarks.Defense attorney Sarah Livingstone entered not guilty pleas on behalf of Kohli and presented a special defense of consent in relation to several charges.Kohli, a former correspondent for BBC The One Show and a panelist for The Wright Stuff who has also appeared on celebrity editions of Big Brother and MasterChef, was excused from attending the hearing.
