Comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli accused of rape and sexual assault

Scots comedian and broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli is to stand trial accused of repeatedly raping a woman and sex offences against four others.

Kohli, 57, denied a total of 20 charges via his legal team during a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow.

The accusations – which feature in a five-page indictment – span from January 2006 to June 2021.

Among the string of allegations are five separate rape charges involving one of the women.

The first is said to have occurred on a date between June 15 and July 31, 2020, at a house near Glasgow.

Kohli is next accused of raping the female on “various occasions” at the same property as well as two others in the city’s east end from the June date up until February 1, 2021.

He is said to have struck again twice within two days in December 2020.

The final rape allegedly occurred at one of the east end addresses on June 20, 2021, when the woman was “intoxicated, drifting in and out of consciousness and incapable of consenting” at the time.

Kohli separately faces four sexual assault charges involving the same female.

Kohli – who previously appeared on the celebrity versions of Big Brother and Masterchef – is further accused of engaging in a course of abusive behaviour with the woman over a two-year period.

This includes accusations that he asked for intimate images of her, wanted to know about previous relationships, tracked her movements, and hounded her with calls and texts.

It is also alleged he “coerced” the woman into giving him money.

The court papers further state he locked her out of his house, turned up uninvited at her home, and binned food that she had made for him.

Kohli is also charged with communicating indecently with the woman and sending her photos of semi-naked females.

The initial charges on the indictment are that Kohli indecently assaulted another woman at the BBC Scotland studios in Glasgow, as well as in the Radisson Hotel in the city’s Argyle Street.

He also allegedly committed a sexually related breach of the peace at an unnamed restaurant.

These incidents are said to have happened between January 2006 and December 2008.

Kohli is accused of indecently assaulting and carrying out a sex act on a third woman at the Cross Keys Hotel in Canonbie, Dumfries and Galloway, on June 22, 2008.

He is charged with repeatedly sexually assaulting a fourth female at the University of Edinburgh in August 2011.

Kohli faces the same offence against the final woman on December 20, 2016.

The indictment includes claims that he grabbed the woman in the then city centre Yes Bar, put his arms around her and kissed her on the mouth.

He is also accused of being threatening and abusive towards her by repeatedly pursuing this female in the pub and making sexual remarks.

Kohli, of the city’s Kelvinside, had his attendance excused for the brief hearing.

Defence advocate Sarah Livingstone pled not guilty on his behalf.

She lodged a special defence of consent for a number of the charges.

Both Ms Livingstone and prosecutor Paul Harvey agreed that a trial could be set.

Lord Renucci went on to fix a date, and the case is scheduled to begin on October 1, 2027.

The judge said: “It will be for a duration of eight days.”

A further hearing will take place before then in September.

Kohli remains on bail.