Sohil Bindra sexual assault trial paused for another week
The exterior of the Lethbridge courthouse is shown in a file photo.
LETHBRIDGE, Alta. -
A total of six complainants have come forward with allegations including sexual assault, house breaking, and administering a noxious substance against Sohil Bindra. Those allegations span over roughly the last four years.
Back in March, Bindra's attorney applied for a severance of counts to reduce prejudice about the various counts, which the judge then granted.
The complaints were then divided into three separate trials, with four in one, and the other two receiving their own individual trials.
The first of those three trials began on Monday, November 8th with the court hearing from a 20-year old Lethbridge woman and her friend who said they were out drinking roughly two years ago when they said they met up with Bindra.
They claim one of the young woman suddenly became ill, and Bindra offered to drive both of them home.
After dropping the women off it's alleged that he later returned and sexually assaulted one of the women.
Following the alleged event, Bindra was charged by the Lethbridge Police with two counts of sexual assault and house breaking on February 11th, 2020.
The Crown called its final witness in the first trial against Bindra on Friday. Lethbridge Police Service's violent crimes unit and lead investigator on the case Const. Jamie Williamson testified in what was essentially a procedural formality.
The trial was scheduled to wrap up on Friday, but the judge decided to put the matter on pause until November 29th in order to make a decision regarding the admissibility of some of the evidence that has been provided.
Four other woman have also come forward with similar allegations of sexual assault and administering a noxious substance.
In the first trial, Bindra is also facing charges connected to a woman claiming she was sexually assaulted following a Christmas party in 2018 and another woman alleging she was sexually assaulted in a man's car after a night at a local bar.
Bindra's second trial is scheduled for December for similar offences against a fifth woman, and his third trial is set for January for sexual assault offences against a sixth woman.
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