A Canberra man's repeated rape of a customer in an arts supply store caused the victim "years of pain" for what the prosecutor described as his "five minutes of pleasure", the ACT Supreme Court has heard.
Violation in a place of safety
Prosecutor Sofia Janackovic told the court on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, that the woman had been violated by a stranger in the most unexpected and unforeseen circumstances. She said the victim now suffers from enduring and widespread harm, including feelings of hopelessness and nightmares that disrupt her sleep.
The offender, Abhishek Timalsina, aged in his early 30s, is currently in custody on remand. He was found guilty in June 2025 of six charges following a retrial. The jury returned verdicts for two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and four counts of committing an act of indecency without consent.
A failed defence and a frozen victim
The crimes occurred in the back room of an arts supply store at Westfield Belconnen in November 2022. The court heard the woman had visited the store about 20 minutes before closing time to return supplies and buy gel pens. Timalsina was the only staff member present.
In a recorded police interview played during the trials, the victim said Timalsina spoke to her about art and repeatedly asked to take her photograph. "I guess I said 'no' enough and I felt uncomfortable so I said 'OK'," she told police. After taking photos, he asked if she wanted him to kiss her, then said, "I'm just going to go for it," before she could answer.
The prosecution argued Timalsina then closed the store, led her to a back room, and committed the assaults. "I had stopped reacting completely," the woman told police, describing herself as "largely frozen and unresponsive" during what Ms Janackovic called a "one-sided sexual experience" with a stranger she had met just minutes before.
Mistaken belief versus affirmative consent
This was Timalsina's second trial, after a jury in August 2023 reached an irreconcilable impasse. That trial was the ACT's first held under affirmative consent laws.
On Wednesday, defence barrister James Maher argued that while his client committed "a critical failure" in not obtaining consent, he mistakenly believed the victim was consenting. He claimed Timalsina misinterpreted the woman's shy and awkward demeanour as interest.
Prosecutor Janackovic forcefully rejected this argument. She stated the victim had twice tried to physically rebuff Timalsina, and her frozen state "would have raised or ought to have raised red flags" and was "screaming for him to make a proper enquiry" about consent.
"There ought to have been a possibility in the offender's mind that the victim was not consenting, had he bothered to think of it," Ms Janackovic told the court. She argued Timalsina remains "a risk to women in the community" as he continues to deny the offending and maintains it was consensual. She urged Justice Verity McWilliam to impose a significant prison sentence.
Justice McWilliam is set to hand down Timalsina's sentence next week.
Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; beyondblue 1300 224 636; 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732, Canberra Rape Crisis Centre 6247 2525.
