Sillicon Valley’s startup star, 31-year-old Indian Origin Gurbaksh Chahal was once known as “America’s Most Eligible Bachelor” titled by the TV show Extra! and deemed one of the planet’s “richest and fittest guys” by Men’s Health magazine.
Now he has been charged for punching and kicking his girlfriend 117 times and is likely to go to jail after a video which caught him in the act was admitted in a US Court.
In his defence, Chahal told the court that it was his anger and not domestic violence after he learnt about his girlfriend’s infidelity.
Chahal was charged with 47 felony counts in August 2013.
A video showing Chahal punching and kicking his girlfriend 117 times in 30 minutes and smothering her with a pillow for 20 seconds was obtained by police clearing indicting him but a judge ruled that video was inadmissible because the police had seized it improperly.
“The judge was not swayed by the prosecutor’s argument that the cops hadn’t had time to secure a warrant because a tech mogul could so easily erase the footage,” reported the publication.
At the same time, Chahal’s girlfriend refused to cooperate with the police in the investigation.
Chahal pleaded guilty to two counts and was sent to attend a 52-week domestic violence course.
The course was halfway done when police received another 911 call from his penthouse in September 2014.
This time Chahal’s new girlfriend told the cops that he had physically assaulted her in his penthouse.
However, like in the first instance, this time too, the girlfriend declined to cooperate with the investigating officers. She instead left America to escape the charges of immigration fraud that Chahal threatened her with.
This left the magistrate without enough evidence to prosecute Chahal in a criminal suit.
However the attorney’s office asked the judge if the video from the first case could be used to establish the fact that Chahal was a repeat offender.
The judge answered in affirmative and the case turned against Chahal.
The video recording convinced the judge and he ruled against him on 22 July.
The final sentencing is set for 12 August with Chahal facing jail-time.
