Hamilton dentist, Rahul Gautam has been found not guilty of three charges of indecent assault in their unanimous not guilty verdict by the jury of six men and six women today (05 Feb). After the verdict, a relieved Gautam was hugged by supporters.
The complainant- who has permanent name suppression, had alleged indecent assault after plying her with wine and allegedly groping, kissing and touching her in Gautam’s Tamahere residence on the evening of March 27, 2024.
His lawyer, Philip Morgan, KC, termed his client as a “foolish man thinking that he might have a romantic interlude with the complainant”.
Gautam accepted he touched the woman’s breast and tried to kiss her, but denied touching her genitals, and defended the charges as he never realised the complainant was not willing.
In her summing up this morning, Judge Tini Clark jury was told to focus on what was going through Gautam’s mind at the time of the alleged offending, and whether he had the consent of the victim.
The jury returned with their unanimous not guilty verdicts at 2.20pm.
In his closing submission, Crown prosecutor Amy Alcock said the driving lesson was never part of the defendant’s plan that day. It was to take her to his house, a big house, where he was going to be home alone … not for a driving lesson or play snakes and ladders. It was to have a sexual encounter with her.”
On the contrary Morgan asked the jury whether they really thought that Gautam deliberately intended to molest her.
Morgan asked the jury if it was ‘really’ possible that this 51-year-old man, with a 30-year career in dentistry, would use the woman for his own “sexual gratification”.
He said the case was about “two socially inept people” who “behaved very oddly”. Gautam, too had claimed yesterday he felt ‘girlfriend, boyfriend’ vibes.
For him, justice had been served as he was absolved of all charges.
